Brown Aims To Be Better In Year Two
A.J. Brown rejects the notion that there is nowhere to go but down.
After he led all rookies with 1,051 receiving yards, tied for the NFL lead with eight receptions of 40 yards or more in 2019 and became the first rookie of the Super Bowl era to average better than 20 yards per reception in a 1,000-yard season, the Tennessee Titans wide receiver sees plenty of opportunity for improvement this offseason.
“I think the sky is the limit for me to be honest,” he said this week. “I’m a great learner and I’m going to keep learning each and every day. That’s the biggest thing to my game, I’m a huge learner. Definitely a lot of things I can clean up.”
The second-round pick out of Ole Miss became the franchise’s 11th different player since 1970 to produce a 1,000-yard receiving season. Just four produced more than one, and two of those (Drew Hill and Haywood Jeffires) did so during the run-and-shoot days of the mid-1980s.
Only one was as young as Brown, who was 22 throughout his rookie season. That was Ernest Givins, a second-round pick in 1986 who caught 61 passes for 1,062 yards as a rookie. Givens topped 900 receiving yards four of the next five seasons but never got to 1,000 again.
All told, Brown’s was the Titans/Oilers’ 20th 1,000-yard receiving season since the AFL-NFL merger. Fourteen were by players who were 27 or older.
So, there is something to be said for experience.
“Just looking back, I just paid attention to the details and I’m going to continue to do that each and every day,” Brown said. “Learning, like I said, and just getting on the same page with Ryan [Tannehill]. Think what he’s thinking, because he’s the man in charge and I have to get open.”
Now, he just has to show that he has not reached his ceiling.
From 2010-18, seven wide receivers across the league topped 1,000 yards as rookies. Most have consistently produced at the level in the ensuing seasons.
And now that Brown knows what to expect in the NFL, he expects to be even better.
“Year One, I was just trying to play fast and not think about it too much,” Brown said. “But Year Two I can really just key in and focus on what I really need to focus on and learn a lot more stuff in regards to coverages and everything else.
“… Things I do well, I want to improve on those too. Things I’m struggling with … I’m trying to be a complete, well-rounded football player.”
