Avoiding the injury bug for most of the 2025 season seems almost too good to be true, given how many Patriots players have been placed on injured reserve in just the first five weeks of the 2026 season.
After fullback Reggie Gilliam and wide receiver Mack Hollins were placed on IR last week, the team now has had 19 players on IR since training camp began this past summer.
It only gets worse when you see Will Campbell and TreVeyon Henderson leave Sunday's matchup with the Raiders, and you know the offensive tackle injured the same knee he hurt as a rookie last year. That could move him to IR, too, bringing the total to 20.
Amid all the bad injury luck, however, comes the realization that Week 6 is the first game A.J. Brown can return from his ankle sprain, since he will have sat out the four required games. There has been a lot of chatter about whether the Patriots will activate him as soon as possible, especially since they face the Jets next week.
Other reports believe they will keep him out for at least one more week, which might be the safer option.
But a new theory suggests they put Hollins on IR because they knew Brown would return sooner rather than later.
There's a chance that A.J. Brown returns for the Patriots' Week 6 game
Because the receiving corps was already depleted before Hollins was injured, since Brown was on IR and the team traded Kayshon Boutte ahead of the season opener, it wouldn't make sense for them to put Hollins on the shelf for at least four games unless they knew with some kind of certainty that Brown was returning soon.
Hollins could be hurt worse than we thought, so it made more sense to put him on injured reserve than to keep him on the roster, since he'd miss games. It makes even more sense if Brown is about to return, as they will need to clear a roster spot to activate him.
That could explain the thinking behind the decision, and if that's accurate, then ensuring Drake Maye is surrounded by the talent he needs to succeed is clearly a top priority for the current front office.
Obviously, their receiving corps was thin against the Raiders on Sunday, with only Romeo Doubs, DeMario Douglas, Efton Chism, and Kyle Williams active. But that worked out far better than anyone expected, and it will only get better when Brown returns to the lineup.
They seemed likely to struggle more without Hollins on the field, as he became one of Maye's go-tos in Brown's absence. He was also more reliable than some of his other options, particularly Doubs, who struggled early in the season with ill-timed drops and costly turnovers.
That wasn't an issue against the Raiders, who entered the game with the 8th-ranked pass defense, allowing the offense to put up over 500 yards.
And now it looks like the path is set for Brown to return this week to face the Jets, unless the Patriots hold off a bit longer and just trick us with their decision on Hollins.
That's completely possible, and maybe we're just getting overly excited about Brown's return, but the Patriots are usually up to something behind the scenes, so it wouldn't be surprising if the move meant more than meets the eye.
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