“It’s a knee that I think raises some concerns as to how long he’s gonna keep playing here in New England, and producing at a high level.”
A.J. Brown has only played in three games so far this season. (Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff)
The Patriots are still playing the waiting game with A.J. Brown’s ailing knee.
The star wideout missed New England’s road game against the Dolphins last week after a “flare-up” in his knee and has yet to practice this week as the Patriots prepare for an anticipated matchup against the Packers.
If Brown can’t play on Sunday against Green Bay, the 29-year-old will have appeared in only three of the Patriots’ nine games so far this season.
It’s another frustrating setback for both Brown and the Patriots — who traded a 2028 first-round pick (and a 2027 fifth-rounder) to the Eagles to acquire him in a blockbuster deal in June.
To make matters worse, ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter shared a disheartening update on Brown’s long-term health due to that knee issue.
“It flared up. …I know it says ankle and knee [on New England’s injury report], but it’s the knee,” Schefter said of Brown on ESPN’s “Get Up” on Thursday. “The knee held him out last week, and the knee is threatening to hold him out this week.
“It’s a knee that I think raises some concerns as to how long he’s gonna keep playing here in New England, and producing at a high level.”
Brown’s limited availability so far this season is far from ideal, especially on a Patriots wideout grouping that is currently soldiering on without Romeo Doubs and Mack Hollins.
But Schefter’s comments about Brown’s knee potentially sapping his superstar ceiling moving forward are also especially concerning.
However, Schefter acknowledged that Brown’s knee issues weren’t exactly a surprise entering the 2026 season.
“One of the reasons that I believe there wasn’t more interest [in Brown] was there were some teams that had some questions about his knee,” Schefter noted. “And in fact, when there were advanced discussions for a trade with the Los Angeles Rams that was at one point close to being completed before the Rams traded for Trent McDuffie and Myles Garrett.”
“Because if the trade for A.J. Brown had gone through, would it change the entire season? I think the Rams had some concerns about his knee. Well, the concerns that other teams have had have now manifested themselves in New England this season.”
Those concerns were also not lost on Patriots vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf, who told Yahoo Sports’ Jori Epstein that the team was aware of a “degenerative knee condition” with Brown before trading for him.
“It’s a factor, but we examined him,” Wolf told Epstein. “He’s got a knee that has some wear and tear that we were aware of. Our training staff and medical staff signed off on it.”
So far, that gamble by the Patriots has not paid off — with the loss of Brown looming large for Sunday’s game against Green Bay.
“My concern is about trying to prepare for the Packers,” Mike Vrabel said Wednesday of any concern for Brown’s knee. “That’s really my only concern, trying to figure out what we do today, on first and second down, how we practice, and how we can carry over the second half of last week’s football game to where we look like somewhat of the expectations that I would expect us to look like.
“Those are my concerns and trying to figure them out. Certainly the health of the team is critical, but we have to make sure that the guys that are practicing are preparing for Green Bay.”
Conor Ryan is a staff writer covering the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox for Boston.com, a role he has held since 2023.
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