Injuries have been one of the stories of the season so far for the New England Patriots, but Saturday brought some positive news for once. Wide receiver A.J. Brown, who made his return to practice earlier this week, will reportedly be activated off the injured reserve list and officially rejoin the offense against the New York Jets on Sunday.
Needless to say that getting Brown back is a positive for the Patriots offense and quarterback Drake Maye. Let’s dive a bit deeper, though.
Positive development
Since Brown went down
in Week 1 with what was later diagnosed as a high ankle sprain, the Patriots continued to lose key contributors to injury. Wide receiver Mack Hollins, fullback Reggie Gilliam and guards Mike Onwenu and Greg Van Roten have all been moved to injured reserve as well. In addition, tight end Eli Raridon missed time due to injury, while left tackle Will Campbell and running back TreVeyon Henderson are facing unclear outlooks after sustaining respective knee and ankle injuries last week versus the Las Vegas Raiders.
Only five weeks into the season, the Patriots have already had to overcome more substantial injuries than they had to deal with through all of 2025. Needless to say that getting some talent back — especially of Brown’s quality — is a positive development that should help the entire offense: he is the rising tide capable of lifting all the boats.
Trickle-down effect
With Brown set to rejoin the 53-man roster, the Patriots’ wide receiver group will look drastically different. After previously having four wideouts on the active team, he will add a starter-caliber fifth option:
53-man roster (5): A.J. Brown (1),Romeo Doubs (87), DeMario Douglas (3), Kyle Williams (18 | KR), Efton Chism III (86)
Practice squad (3): Kyle Dixon (83), Cameron Dorner (88), Chandler Brayboy (81)
Injured reserve (2): Mack Hollins (13), Jeremiah Webb (29 | season-ending)
Brown returning to reclaim usual spot atop the depth chart means that the entire group will be shaken up below him. Romeo Doubs and Kyle Williams might see fewer opportunities at the X-receiver spot, while Efton Chism — who played a career-high 57 snaps against the Raiders last Sunday — might be used more as a package player again moving forward.
In the meantime, the Patriots may no longer feel the need to carry three wideouts on their practice squad. They could instead decide to use one of those spots on one of the free agent running backs they recently had in town for tryouts
Immediate impact TBD
What speaks against the Patriots making a follow-up move involving a practice squad wide receiver, at least initially, is Brown not yet being cleared for full practice participation. Even though he will rejoin the 53-man team on Saturday, he was limited at all three sessions this week.
This also means that it remains to be seen how actively involved the 29-year-old actually will be against the Jets. He played 91% of offensive snaps against the Seahawks before going down, but might not see the same playing time share on Sunday.
The goal is to get him back to a full workload, obviously, but he might not be at this point just yet making his comeback after a four-week absence.
Open roster spot filled
The Patriots entered the weekend with one open spot on their 53-man roster. Brown will fill it, but it remains to be seen whether or not this is the only transaction taking place on the eve of the team’s Week 6 matchup with the Jets.
Mike Vrabel and company could, for example, also activate offensive tackle Marcus Bryant off injured reserve.
“He’ll be another guy that we’ll look at here in the morning to see about his elevation and see where that is and see how he feels after a few days of work,” said the Patriots’ head coach.
Like Brown, Bryant made his return to practice this week and is eligible to return to the active roster at any point over the next three weeks. And with starting left tackle Will Campbell questionable because of a knee ailment, adding him to bolster the depth at his position might make sense — even if it will come at the expense of another player currently on the 53-man team.
