The return of A.J. Brown had New England more excited than it has been since the Patriots beat the Bills in Buffalo two weeks ago, and even though that was not that long ago, there was still a lot of hype around the receiver's return after missing four games with an ankle injury.
The connection between Brown and Drake Maye was barely seen in the season opener before he got hurt, so most have been reminiscing about their impressive training-camp performances, hoping they will bring that to the regular season soon.
The expectation was that we would see plenty of that against the Jets on Sunday, especially since Brown was activated as soon as he became eligible, making it clear he was ready to return to the field.
But his return was far from stellar: 3 catches on 10 targets for 27 yards, including 3 drops. That set a new career high for Brown, who had never recorded more than two drops in a single game before Sunday.
That has created a lot of buzz in the hours since the Patriots got the win, with some speculating about whether it was the right move to bring him back right before they play the Bears on Thursday Night Football, but there are a lot of reasons not to worry about what we've seen so far and what he might look like moving forward.
A.J. Brown's new career record is not something he will replicate again with the Patriots
Although Eagles fans have been screaming from the rooftops that Brown is no longer a good player and were happy to see him traded, his first full game of the season against the Jets on Sunday does nothing to confirm that.
We saw what a Maye-and-Brown connection would look like throughout the summer, starting the moment he joined the team in June, and it will take time to develop in a real game. Brown barely played against the Seahawks in Week 1, then missed an entire month before finally returning this past weekend, so there's no reason to worry just yet.
That chemistry between a quarterback and receiver doesn't happen overnight, and these two will surely put in extra work this week ahead of their game in Chicago to speed up that process as much as possible.
History shows that Brown can quickly become a new team's top target, and we saw glimpses of that during training camp. In fact, several throws to Brown went viral because the catches were so incredible.
Now we just have to be patient to see that happen when the games actually matter.
But in the meantime, there's no reason to believe Brown will have another performance like he did against the Jets. He was rusty, and playing a team like the Jets was the perfect way to shake it off.
Most of that should be gone by the time they play the Bears on Thursday Night Football, and that's exactly what the Patriots were focused on. Had they kept him out of Sunday's game for their primetime matchup, we might've seen him struggle against a tougher opponent, and no one wants to see that.
So optimism should be at an all-time high going into Thursday's game, with Brown recording more drops at the back of everyone's mind moving forward.
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