New England Patriots wide receiver A.J. Brown suffered a high ankle sprain in Wednesday’s 13-10 loss at Seattle. The injury is expected to keep the veteran wideout sidelined for at least four weeks.
Before getting hurt, Brown had three receptions on four targets for 26 yards in his debut with the Patriots, who sent the Eagles a 2027 fifth-round pick and a 2028 first-round selection in the offseason trade.
New England’s next four games are at home vs. Pittsburgh, at Jacksonville, at Buffalo and vs. Las Vegas. The Patriots host the New York Jets on Oct. 18 before a short-week trip to Chicago for a Thursday clash with the Bears on Oct. 22.
“I know he’ll do everything that he can to get back as quickly as possible,” New England head coach Mike Vrabel said before the results of the MRI came back Thursday.
Veteran WR Mack Hollins saw increased playing time after Brown went down in the third quarter. Other WRs who could see more snaps include Pop Douglas, Kyle Williams and Efton Chism III.
Drake Maye was intercepted three times in the loss to the Seahawks, including a terrible pick in the red zone when he badly underthrew Hollins on a third-and-five play with 26 seconds remaining. The Patriots were in position for a 33-yard field-goal attempt to tie the game if not for the interception.
They had gained 57 yards on 15 plays in the final drive. On the previous possession with the game knotted at 10-10, Maye was intercepted by Julian Love, who gave his team the ball at New England’s 47.
Seattle drove 39 yards in eight plays to set up the go-ahead field goal by Jason Myers from 26 yards out with 5:50 left.
Maye completed 23-of-33 passes for 178 yards and one touchdown. Hollins had four catches for 51 yards.
The Patriots are going to need more out of WR Romeo Doubs, who was targeted three times but didn’t have any receptions in his debut with the club. Doubs spent his first four seasons with the Packers before signing a four-year, $80 million contract as an unrestricted free agent back in March.
Instabet.ag has New England’s odds to win Super Bowl LXI at 19/1. Those are the 12th-shortest odds on the board.
Instabet.ag has the Patriots installed as 4.5-point home favorites vs. the Steelers in Week 2.
FanDuel has their updated season win total at 9.5 flat (-110 either way).
DraftKings has Buffalo as the -156 favorite to win the AFC East. New England has the next-shortest odds at +160.