FOXBOROUGH, Mass — Just when things appear to be better on the injury front, the New England Patriots are hit with some more bad news. One of their star receivers, who they only just recently got back, was absent from practice, and his status for Sunday's game remains in the air.
Here's what I'm hearing at Gillette Stadium:
A.J Brown knee injury might be cause for concern
It's widely known that A.J. Brown has been dealing with an ankle injury, which has landed him on injured reserve for a period of time following the season opener. And ahead of the team's matchup against the New York Jets in Week 6, he returned to the field.
But on Wednesday, a new injury for the star receiver appeared on the injury report, with Brown now also dealing with a knee injury. And on Thursday, he was not spotted during
the media-attended portion of practice.
However, when asked about it, wide receiver coach Todd Downing deferred to the head coach, saying, "injury questions go to Mike."
So, is he worried about Brown's availability on Sunday?
"I just coach the guys that are out there," Downing added. "So whoever Vrabes tells me is available, that's who I'll spend my energy on, and I'll take the information as it's given to me."
Following news of his absence, NFL Insider Ian Rapoport reported that Brown not practicing was due to "a knee issue that has flared up," adding that his "status for Sunday is up in the air."
Along with Brown, running back TreVeyon Henderson was also absent.
Brown's integration into the offense has been somewhat slow, with many worried about the wide receiver's lack of contributions and drops. And on Thursday, offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels was asked how the receiver is doing physically following his return from injured reserve.
“I wouldn’t be able to comment on where the number he is and all that,” McDaniels told reporters. “Look, he’s played eight quarters and almost two months and had four practices, I think. So, I’m certainly in the mode of this is a process of building into our best football. We’ve seen that with pretty much every player that’s come here starting last year. And obviously we’ve seen that already this year with different guys. So, I think there’s things that we can work on to do better, and certainly his health is going to be a big part of that.
“So, you know, they tell us he can do A, B and C, we’ll do A, B and C. And if there’s some element of things we need to wait on, then we’ll do it, so love his attitude and his approach. He’s been here working his tail off to try to put himself in a great position to help our team, and I know he’s going to do that.”
Downing shared his own thoughts on this as well.
"It's been a small sample size for AJ," he explained. "I think there's been a lot made about a couple of weeks, and my hope, and his hope, and everybody here's hope is that he starts to get a little bit of traction. I'm not worried about where AJ is at at all. Certainly haven't had the results that we had hoped for, but that doesn't mean that they're not right around the corner."
This could mean a greater opportunity for other receivers on the roster
With all the injuries at the wide receiver position, with Brown having missed practice along with Mack Hollins and Romeo Doubs being on injured reserve, the Patriots might have to rely on some others this weekend against the Dolphins.
"Such a cool opportunity for those guys," Downing said. "We've talked over the last several weeks when I've had the chance to chat with you guys about just the approach of the unit. And from Chiz coming in early and preparing for his moment in Buffalo, or Pop being a positive influence and energy for the group. I'm just excited for the guys. Whoever's out there, it's going to be fun to watch them go out and compete, and you know, try to go get a division win."
Along with DeMario Douglas, Kyle Williams, and Efton Chism, the Patriots have four receivers on the practice squad: Ryan Miller, Chandler Brayboy, Kyle Dixon, and Cameron Dorner.
"Ryan's the newest to the group, and he's been a great addition. He's certainly brought some wisdom. Has a little bit more experience than a couple of the other guys," Downing said. "I've been really impressed with Chandler, and this is now a few weeks with him around, and he's been playing fast, improving on the things that we asked him to improve on."
"Cam Dorner has been doing a nice job ever since training camp. You see good movement skills with him, and he's learned to have a little bit more versatility on some of the stuff that we've asked him to do on the show team," he added. "And then Kyle Dixon... You saw the physical skill set. We've seen nothing but improvement from there."
Drake Maye's ability to bounce back after a mistake
For Drake Maye, the quarterback was making continued mistakes as it concerns turnovers during the first few weeks of the season, but he has now turned it all around. And that was evident in the loss to Chicago, where, even though he underthrew the ball to Eli Raridon and it resulted in an ill-timed interception, Maye was able to quickly bounce back and not let it impact the rest of his game.
"I think he's had a tremendous approach. Honestly, all year, none of those guys that make a mistake, whether it's a quarterback or somebody else, wants to do it. So, it's a gut punch initially, but I think the reality is we play 60 minutes of football," McDaniels explained. "The game has never been won or lost in the first quarter, second quarter, whatever it may be.
"I think his approach has been tremendous in terms of how he's handled himself on the sideline. I think it takes a mature young guy to be able to continue to lead others after you've made an error, and he knows how to do that now," he added. "And so you can't lose your voice when you make a mistake playing quarterback in the NFL, because you're probably going to do that each week; you hope it's not a turnover. But nonetheless, you still have to be able to get in there, and whether it's motivate or inspire or encourage other people in the huddle or on the sideline, I think Drake has really learned how to do that really, really well."
Eli Raridon has the perfect mentor
Rookie tight end Eli Raridon was kind of thrown right into the thick of things quickly after Julian Hill suffered a season-ending injury during OTAs. And over the first eight weeks of the season, he has shown a lot of improvement.
So what has allowed him to do that so quickly?
"I think his work ethic. He's mature beyond his years in terms of the way that he approaches the game," McDaniels said of the rookie tight end. "He has as good a mentor. He's kind of like I talked about with Mack Hollins in the receiver room. Hunter Henry's pretty much the same, in terms of how unselfish he's been with Eli and all the young guys in that room.
"Just giving him his time and attention, helping him with little things when they're in there, Eli's a sponge. He's a very quick learner. He processes a lot of information. He's a very bright kid... He's not an error repeater. So young players that don't repeat errors have a chance to improve quick, and I think that's what we've seen. And I think he's given us a lot of confidence in the things that he does well. And I think you know you see that in the quarterback's willingness to go to him in critical situations, and he's earned that."
But for Henry, the tight end told Patriots Wire that when it comes to being a leader in the tight end room, he doesn't do "anything crazy."
"I think I just try to be me, and that just kind of who I am," he explained. "Yeah I'm older and he's younger and all this stuff, but now we kind of have formed a bond and a friendship, and we're able to talk through things."
The captain also commented on how he's seen Raridon grow.
"He's doing a lot of good things," Henry added. "He's continuing to get better, and excited, definitely for him to just continue to build games, put games under his belt. And the more he sees, the more he does, the better he's going to get. So yeah, he's a lot of fun to play with."
Jeremy Springer comments on Bryce Baringer's release
Special teams coordinator Jeremy Springer shared some heartfelt words on what it's been like working with punter Bryce Baringer following the news that the team released him after three seasons.
“Oh, man, I love Bryce. Me and him have a really, really strong relationship,” Springer said. “I mean, since day one, he’s been a straight supporter of me and helped me so much. Just kind of get affiliated with the area, with the players. He was all for the team. He’s always for the team. He works his tail off. He’s a great punter. He’s going to do some great things whatever team picks him up. I can’t say enough good things about him. Bella, his wife, their family.
“He’ll be a friend from now forward in this business. Who knows, I might be coaching him next year or at some point down the road, you know, we’ll be linked back up together, but excited for his future. It’s just like I told him the other day, I’d say it’s a stage stop on your journey. Like, we all have stops. We’re all going to be in different places. This is never forever in this business. So best luck to him.”
Follow Patriots Wire on Twitter and Facebook.
This article originally appeared on Patriots Wire: What I’m hearing at Gillette Stadium: Thursday rumblings (Week 8)
