A.J. Brown practices for the first time since Week 1

Brown practices for the first time since Week 1, and could play Sunday

The bottom line: A.J. Brown returned to practice Wednesday, opening a 21-day window for the Patriots to activate him off injured reserve. He has not played since suffering a high-ankle sprain in his debut in the season opener at Seattle on Sept. 9. The first game he is eligible for is Sunday at home against the Jets.

What the window means

The bottom line: New England now has three weeks to decide, and no obligation to use all of it.

The details:

• Mike Vrabel announced at his Wednesday news conference that the team had opened practice windows for both Brown and offensive tackle Marcus Bryant, Pats Pulpit reported. Both have 21 days to be activated to the 53-man roster.
• If Brown is not ready for the Jets, the next opportunity is the following Thursday night at Chicago. Vrabel said the short week will not affect the decision, the Boston Globe reported.
• Brown has missed four games. He was one of several players back on the field Wednesday, along with Bryant and cornerback Christian Gonzalez, who told reporters before practice that he is ready to play Sunday, per the Boston Herald.

What Vrabel said

The bottom line: He stopped short of committing to Sunday and pointed at how Brown handled four weeks away.

The details:

• “He hasn’t been out there for four weeks,” Vrabel said, adding that the team would get him practicing and see whether he is ready in a couple of days. He said that if Brown is not, the 21-day window is there.
• On how Brown spent the time, Vrabel said “his routine was really good,” citing his presence in meetings and his focus on rehab. The Globe quoted him saying it can be difficult to stay engaged while hurt.
• At his Monday news conference, asked whether Brown could come back this week, Vrabel had answered: “A chance? Yep, there is.”

What the offense has done without him

The bottom line: New England has scored 29 and 45 in the last two games with four receivers dressed.

The details:

• The Patriots are coming off a 45-17 win over the Raiders in which Drake Maye threw for 374 yards and four touchdowns with no turnovers, playing without Brown and without Mack Hollins.
• Maye’s efficiency numbers have gone from near the bottom of the league to the top over those two games, the result of both his own form and a change in how Josh McDaniels is calling it.
• Part of that was scheme. New England had ranked 32nd in pre-snap motion through three games and used it on 75.3% of its snaps against Buffalo in Week 4.
• The receiver room behind him is Romeo Doubs, DeMario Douglas, Efton Chism III and Kyle Williams. Hollins is on injured reserve with a calf injury and will be out through at least Week 8.
• Rhamondre Stevenson, Hunter Henry and Eli Raridon have combined for 36 catches and 431 yards.

Who Brown is

The bottom line: New England traded a 2028 first-round pick and a 2027 fifth for him in June, and has had him for one quarter of football.

The details:

• Brown caught three passes for 26 yards in his Patriots debut before the injury.
• He is 29, listed at 6-foot-1 and 226 pounds, and was drafted by Tennessee in the second round in 2019 at No. 51 overall out of Ole Miss.
• He has 527 receptions for 8,055 yards and 56 touchdowns in 106 games, with three Pro Bowls, three All-Pro selections and a Super Bowl LIX ring.
• He has topped 1,000 receiving yards in all but one of his seven NFL seasons.

The rest of Wednesday

• Carlton Davis III missed a fourth straight practice with a neck injury. Cornerbacks Marcus Jones and Channing Canada, running back TreVeyon Henderson, left tackle Will Campbell and tackle Morgan Moses were also not practicing.
• Vrabel did not say whether Henderson or Campbell would go on injured reserve.
• The Patriots signed running back Hassan Haskins and cornerback D’Shawn Jamison to the practice squad and released linebacker Jose Ramirez.
• Wednesday’s full participation report is on the Patriots injury report.

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Our take

The window opening is not the same as Brown playing, and the gap between those two things is where New England has been living all season.

Still, consider the timing. The offense just put up 45 points with four receivers dressed and its best one in street clothes. Brown walks back into a passing game that finally works, against a defense that has to account for Doubs, Douglas, Chism and Williams rather than keying one man. That is a much better situation than the one he got hurt in, when he was the whole plan.

The thing worth watching is not whether he plays Sunday. It is whether McDaniels keeps the motion and the formation variety once he has a receiver who can just win on his own. The easy thing would be to stop cooking.