Four Observations From A.J. Brown’s First Day with the Patriots

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The proverbial red carpet was rolled out on Tuesday at Gillette Stadium for A.J. Brown’s arrival. From the moment he arrived at the Patriots’ facility to his introductory press conference, the focus was firmly on the three-time second-team All-Pro pass catcher.

“I’m still in awe,” said Brown of his excitement to join the Patriots, whom he grew up rooting for. “I’m trying to adjust. Walking up the hill with the uniform on, I was like, ‘Man, this is real.’ And I caught myself at one point in practice not paying attention because I was just thinking, ‘Dang, I’m a Patriot.’”

Upon waiting until after 4 p.m. ET on June 1 due to salary cap-related reasons, New England finalized its trade for Brown by sending a 2028 first-round pick and a ’27 fifth-rounder to Philadelphia. He arrived in Foxborough on Tuesday morning, passed his physical and took the field with his new club just hours later.

Here are four observations from Brown’s first day in a Patriots uniform.

The Patriots are fired up to have Brown in the building

A.J. Brown was traded to the Patriots on Monday. | Eric Canha-Imagn Images

Patriots coach Mike Vrabel has a well-documented, long-standing relationship with Brown going back to their days working together while with the Titans. Now that he’s finally allowed to let it be known how he feels about him as a player, Vrabel explained what makes Brown such a special on-field presence.

“He loves football,” the reigning Coach of the Year explained. “I think he has a physical skill set, he’s got great body control, he’s strong at the catch point. But I also think as he’s grown as a player and as a receiver, just the nuances of releases versus press, playing versus bracketed coverages or zone coverages. He plays physical with the football and has been a productive and consistent player.”

As for Brown’s new offensive coordinator, Josh McDaniels, the longtime play-caller described the acquisition as, “exciting.”

“I’m getting to know him more as we go,” he said. “Met him this morning, so this will be a good opportunity for us over the next couple of weeks here to just get acclimated. Him to us, us to him. So that we have a good little foundation [heading] into training camp. Obviously a very successful player. He’s done a lot individually, he’s been on some really good teams, and adding players like this only helps your football team.”

After Tuesday’s practice, Patriots running back TreVeyon Henderson couldn’t hold back his smile when asked about Brown joining the offense.

“Great news,” said the second-year pro. “Shoot. I’m glad, everyone’s glad to have him here. That’s a huge pick up for this offense and for this team.”

Needless to say, the excitement was palpable.

Brown is leaning on familiar faces

Brown’s arrival at Patriots practice was a highly anticipated one, with camera crews and media members alike congregating in close quarters to watch (and capture) the 28-year-old take the field for the first time. Just before the start of New England’s session, Brown emerged from the New Balance Athletics Center alongside Patriots director of sports performance Frank Piraino, whom he overlapped with for three years in Tennessee.

A.J. Brown arrives for his first Patriots practice 🔥

(via @mikekadlick) pic.twitter.com/xl3YfGuwsc
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) June 2, 2026

During practice itself, Brown was limited to a handful of reps with New England’s first-team offense—which we’ll get to in a minute—but appeared to lean on another familiar face to get himself up to speed. Patriots wide receivers coach Todd Downing, who served as the Titans’ tight ends coach from 2019 to ’20 and their offensive coordinator from ’21 to ’22, spent much of practice by Brown’s side and seemed to be walking him through the ropes.

A.J. Brown worked closely with #Patriots WRs coach Todd Downing all practice long. The two know each other from their time together with the Titans. pic.twitter.com/oZsdUVFqzA
— Mike Kadlick (@mikekadlick) June 2, 2026

“I try to teach all of our players all of the positions,” Downing said before practice, when asked about how he envisions Brown will be used within the Patriots’ offense. “So that we can move them around based on the matchups in the game plan, wherever Josh wants them to be, or where we may be able to create a mismatch. So I think that’s going to play itself out over the course of this offseason and into training camp. A.J. certainly has the skill set to be able to pay multiple positions, so we’ll see how that shakes out over the next couple of months.”

Brown wants to earn his keep

If Tuesday’s practice is any indication, Brown is starting at the bottom of the totem pole in the Patriots’ offense. Despite being a three-time Pro Bowler, a Super Bowl champion and a six-time 1,000-plus-yard pass catcher, Brown began the day behind every single one of New England’s wide receivers, repping last in their warmup drills before the start of practice. He later explained that this was his choice.

“You’ve gotta learn from the guys,” Brown said. “You just can’t come in and demand. Like today, they wanted me to get up there in front of [the drills]. Like, no. I’ve got to earn that. [They said] it’s a respect thing. I’m like, I’ve got to earn that first. And I want to earn that. And I want to earn those guys’ respect.”

RELATED: Where A.J. Brown, Romeo Doubs Rank Among NFL’s Top Wide Receiver Duos

Additionally, when team drills began, Brown did not line up with the starters—that group consisted of Romeo Doubs, Mack Hollins and DeMario “Pop” Douglas. Instead, he repped with a second unit alongside Efton Chism III and Kyle Williams, and only received fewer than five reps during 11-on-11 drills.

While this likely won’t last long, it shows that Brown wants his role in New England to be earned, not given.

No concerns about his knee

According to Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer, one of the reasons why the Rams had decided against dealing for Brown earlier in the offseason was a degenerative knee issue that the receiver has dealt with since his days playing in Tennessee. In fact, as Breer outlined last month, this also played a role in the Titans’ unwillingness to sign Brown to a long-term contract extension—and resulted in his trade to the Eagles in 2022.

That said, Brown sounds unbothered about it heading into his age-29 season.

“No injury,” he said, point blank, when asked about his knee. “Nothing to worry about. … In four years, I’ve missed one game from a shot to the knee. So nothing to worry about. I’m good. I’m feeling ready to go.”

On how much he feels he has left in the tank? Brown gave a mic-dropping “We’ll see,” answer before walking off the podium with a smile on his face.

We will indeed. The Patriots’ mandatory minicamp runs from June 9–11, giving us three consecutive days to watch Brown on the practice field next week.

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