A.J. Brown Placed on Injured Reserve With High Ankle Sprain, Patriots WR Out Minimum Four Games
A.J. Brown is headed to injured reserve with a confirmed high ankle sprain, sidelining the Patriots' top offseason addition for at least four games and shaking up New England's win-total and passing-prop markets.
The New England Patriots placed wide receiver A.J. Brown on injured reserve Friday with a confirmed high ankle sprain, an injury he suffered early in the third quarter of the team’s 13-10 season-opening loss to the Seattle Seahawks. The move guarantees Brown will miss a minimum of four games, and the earliest he can return is New England’s Week 6 matchup against the New York Jets on October 18.
Brown, the Patriots’ marquee offseason addition after being acquired from Philadelphia in a June trade, walked off the field on New England’s opening possession of the second half and immediately entered the blue medical tent. X-rays taken that night came back negative for a fracture, but an MRI conducted Thursday confirmed the high ankle sprain. The injury occurred when Seahawks nickel cornerback Nehemiah Pritchett deflected a third-down pass from quarterback Drake Maye intended for Brown, with Pritchett’s knee landing on the outside of Brown’s ankle as it twisted inward.
What the Injury Means for New England’s Offense
Brown finished his Patriots debut with three catches for 26 yards on four targets before exiting. New England surrendered a 2028 first-round pick and a 2027 fifth-round pick to pry the three-time Pro Bowler away from Philadelphia, reuniting him with head coach Mike Vrabel, his former coach in Tennessee. The 29-year-old ranks fourth in the NFL in receiving yards (8,055) and tied for fourth in receiving touchdowns (56) among all players since entering the league in 2019, and he posted a career-high 106 receptions for 1,456 yards with the Eagles in 2023.
With Brown sidelined, the Patriots will lean on Romeo Doubs and DeMario Douglas as their top two wideouts over the next month. New England will be without its top target for a home date against the Pittsburgh Steelers on September 20, followed by road trips to Jacksonville and Buffalo, and a home game against Las Vegas before Brown is even eligible to return. Some reports have suggested the recovery could stretch to six weeks, which would push a realistic return closer to November rather than Week 6.
How the Betting Market Is Reacting
The absence adds fresh weight to what was already a skeptical betting market on New England entering the year. Sportsbooks had set the Patriots’ 2026 win total in the 9.5-to-10.5 range even before Week 1, essentially pricing in regression off last season’s 14-win campaign, and that number was built with Brown healthy in the lineup. Losing him for at least a month removes a projected focal point of the passing game just as Maye tries to build early rhythm behind an offense that turned the ball over three times in the opener.
New England opened as a 4.5-point favorite over Pittsburgh for the Week 2 matchup at Gillette Stadium, with the total sitting at 43.5 and the moneyline near -200 on the Patriots. Those numbers will be worth monitoring as kickoff approaches, since Brown’s absence directly affects Maye’s weekly passing props and New England’s team-total markets for the next several weeks. Any long-term outlook on the Patriots’ AFC East and win-total futures also now carries the added variable of the offense operating without its highest-profile receiver into mid-October at the earliest.