Losing A.J. Brown in Week 1 wasn't ideal for the Patriots' offense, which desperately needed him at the start of a brutal season. Knowing he had to miss at least four games with a high ankle sprain made things even worse, so there was a lot of excitement around his potential return against the Jets on Sunday.
Because he was activated the moment he was eligible, it was clear pretty quickly that the receiver would take the field this week, even in a limited capacity, to get back into the swing of things ahead of a short week, as they play the Bears on Thursday Night Football in Week 7.
The problem is that Brown looked rusty as ever in his return, recording several drops, including the onside-kick recovery, and ended the game with just 3 catches on 10 targets for 27 yards.
It was far from what anyone anticipated his return would look like, particularly the drops, and Mike Vrabel expressed his immediate disappointment when speaking to reporters after the game.
"I think he could’ve probably made a few more plays, come down with a few more plays. He's been out for a while. I know that he wanted to do well for his football team, and unfortunately it wasn't his best effort. I know that he knows that, and we have all the confidence in the world in AJ just to be able to finish those plays.
But AJ has high expectations for himself, and we have high expectations for him as well. So I'm confident that he'll come back and do a lot of things that help us here the rest of the season."
Fortunately for the Patriots and their fans, Brown didn't shy away from the criticism and owned up to his less-than-ideal performance on Sunday. Based on how he looked in training camp with Drake Maye, there's no reason to worry just yet, especially since Brown acknowledged his shortcomings right after the win.
A.J. Brown says all the right things after his rough performance against the Jets
“No excuses… Ankle or not, I should make those plays.”
It's hard to argue that he could've said anything better than fully owning that he didn't play his best this week and that he knows it won't be acceptable moving forward.
That's the kind of leadership the Patriots need in the locker room, and Brown will keep setting the example with moments like this. We clearly know what kind of player he is and will be, so giving up on him already isn't something we should even consider right now.
But there's plenty of room to be concerned about his drops, as that was the most concerning part of his return. That is especially true of a few well-thrown passes that just slipped through Brown's fingers.
It's uncharacteristic of him to have that happen even once, let alone more than once, in a single game, which makes his return a bit more shocking. It can likely be chalked up to missing an entire month of practice and game reps, then only getting a few days to get back into the swing of things before being thrown into a game.
He needed that time against the Jets, though, and he should look better against the Bears later this week. It's better that he got those drops against a team like New York, and he will (hopefully) not continue that when they head to Chicago.
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