FOXBOROUGH – It’s really not worth rushing him back for the Jets, if we’re all being honest.
AJ Brown began practicing for the first time this week since going on IR after the opener in Seattle. The Patriots now are in a 21-day window where they’d have to activate Brown or lose him for the season.
That obviously isn’t happening, so when is the right time to let Drake Maye’s new No. 1 receiver do his thing?
With a game against the Bears coming on a short week this Thursday and then a 10-day layoff until playing in Miami (4:25 kickoff, so the usual heat won’t even be that bad either), why not just wait at this point?
There could be two reasons.
One is probably a little selfish, but you have to think Brown wants to play in front of the home crowd for the first time. Secondly, even though Drake Maye and the offense started putting it together the last two weeks, a few live reps on Sunday can’t hurt. Even if he plays 20ish plays and that’s it, treating it like a minor league rehab stint while also hopefully getting some production could be smart.
But, it’s the Jets.
The players can hype up how good they are this week and they’re supposed to say that, but this game really shouldn’t be all that close.
To Brown’s credit, when he spoke for the first time since the injury on Thursday, he sounded legitimately willing to do whatever the team thinks is best.
“Yeah, it’s definitely, it’s still up in the air,” Brown said when asked if he could play Sunday. “Obviously, it’s going to be Coach Vrabel’s decision to see where I’m at and make the better decision for the long haul, not just temporarily.
“But, I’m just trying to stack each and every day. Right now, my focus is going into today just trying to get better and just see how I feel afterward, you know? Because today we’re in pads and it’s a lot more moving. (Wednesday), we’re not and guys aren’t really trying to touch you.
“You’re practicing like professionals, but today is a little bump, so we’ll really see.”
Brown was also complementary of the job his fellow receivers have done while he’s been away.
“The guys did a great job,” he said. “Last week was phenomenal. Obviously, there were still things to improve on and they would tell you that.
“But, I think did they really well. Whenever I do decide to come back, I just want to add and continue to keep putting that out on display.”
Brown’s initial thought on the field in Seattle was not letting his wife down during her big nursing school graduation weekend.
“My trust is in God, you know? Nothing I can do to change the situation now. Initially when I was on the ground (in Seattle), I was thinking about my wife’s graduation (from Chamberlain University in NJ) to get to that weekend and I didn’t want to stay for treatment,” Brown explained with a smile.
“I know Vrabes, but he granted me that wish to go down there. But, there’s no need to sulk about anything. This is still a blessing. I’m going to repeat, this is my favorite team. I grew up playing…regardless if I’m out there on the field, everything is a blessing and I treat every little day, every little second as a blessing.”
It was a few games of tag with his son that let Brown know he’s almost ready to go.
“What motivated me to get back was chasing my son again,” Brown added. “As soon as I got home, he wanted me to run around and play and I’m like ‘dada can’t chase you right now.’ And that kind of motivated me and it got to the point where I started to do a little more.
“We started playing tag and that’s when I knew I was kind of getting back into it, because I was making him miss.”
Whatever Vrabel and Brown decide (mostly Vrabel), the decision will be scrutinized if anything goes wrong or the offense doesn’t look right. It’s an unavoidable evil of the profession.
So, is it worth the risk? Wouldn’t you want him to just come flying out of the gate down in nice, comfortable Miami?
As much as I’d love to see him put up stat line of 6/110/2 TD on Sunday, I can’t help but think the answer is no, mostly because It’s still just the Jets.