The wait is finally over for New England Patriots fans. A.J. Brown officially arrived in Foxboro on Tuesday and participated in his first practice as a member of the team.
What may have gotten lost over these past few months of nonstop speculation was how badly Brown wanted this trade to New England to be finalized, too.
Brown's first comments as a member of the Patriots are sure to leave fans of his new team swooning — and those of his former team, the Philadelphia Eagles, in disgust. Still only two years removed from winning a Super Bowl in Philly, Brown’s excitement for this next chapter was written all over his face and mannerisms.
It was even more palpable once he started speaking with members of the Boston media.
“I was just talking to my mom. I was like, man, I’m still in awe, you know?,” Brown said. “Walking up the hill with the uniform on, I was like, ‘Man, this is real.’ I caught myself at one point in practice, I wasn’t paying attention, because I was just like, ‘Dang, I’m a Patriot,’ you know? Just trying to take it all in as much as I can. Obviously, I got back to work quickly. But there’s levels to it and I’m just enjoying it. Obviously, I know this ain’t heaven — but it’s close to it.”
Brown’s reaction to joining the Patriots speaks volumes about his Eagles exit
The final years of Brown’s Eagles tenure were awkward at best, the relationship visibly fraying at times despite Philadelphia winning the most regular-season games in the NFL since the 2022 season. The Eagles wound up reaching two Super Bowls and winning one title, and Brown never had a season in Philly with less than 1,000 receiving yards and seven touchdowns.
But his personal falling out with quarterback Jalen Hurts was well documented, and the Eagles trudged through a brutal offensive season in 2025 under first-year offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo. It was painfully clear, after the Eagles mustered only 167 passing yards in their wild-card playoff loss to the 49ers back in January, that Brown had played his last snap in Philadelphia.
Patriots fans can only hope that they’re getting the best version of Brown going forward. If he’s as excited and motivated as he seemed to be on Day 1, head coach Mike Vrabel expects people to learn what the game-changing wideout is all about in short order.
“That he loves football. That he cares about his team,” Vrabel said. “I think he is knowledgeable. He doesn’t have to prove anything to anybody. Nobody does. They have to go out there and practice. They have to know what to do. They have to play to a certain identity and do their job and focus on that. Nobody has to do anything that’s outside of what we’ve ever asked any of our players to do. I’m confident that he’ll do that. He’s humble. I’m excited to have him get to know our players, and our players get to know him and everybody else as we work through the next few weeks here.”
Brown’s excitement level being at a 10 on Tuesday probably matched that of Patriots fans seeing him snag one-handed, back-shoulder throws from quarterback Drake Maye. The really good stuff will come later in training camp when the pads come on — Vrabel announced a joint practice with the Eagles ahead of their preseason game on Aug. 22, by the way — but New England’s 2026 season is fully loading now. The season opener at Seattle on Sept. 9 can’t get here soon enough.
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