AJ Brown Out at Least 4 Weeks

A.J. Brown is expected to miss at least four weeks after an MRI confirmed a high-ankle sprain from his Patriots debut. NFL Network's Ian Rapoport delivered the four-week floor Thursday, and ESPN's Mike Reiss relayed that New England can plan without its new No. 1 receiver for the Sept. 20 home opener against Pittsburgh and beyond.

That hardens the earlier high-ankle diagnosis into a real September absence. Jordan Schultz put the window at three to six weeks and flagged short-term IR as a live conversation, which would force a four-game minimum sit if New England goes that route.

Steelers, Jaguars, Bills on the board

On a four-week floor, Brown is not lining up for Pittsburgh at home, Jacksonville on the road (Sept. 27), or Buffalo on the road (Oct. 4). The next home pair after that is Las Vegas (Oct. 11) and the Jets (Oct. 18). High-ankle sprains heal on their own clock, and Rapoport noted the usual four-to-six range depends on how Brown responds.

Mike Vrabel had already called the right ankle "the one we will have to monitor" before the MRI landed. Drake Maye lost his clearest early target after Brown left early in the third quarter of the 13-10 loss at Seattle when Nehemiah Pritchett's knee came down on the ankle on a slant.

Who catches for Maye now

Romeo Doubs and Mack Hollins become the early two-receiver set, with Kyle Williams in line for more snaps after a quiet debut workload. Hollins led the group with four catches for 51 yards Wednesday. Doubs went without a catch on three targets and dropped a costly fourth-quarter ball, so Week 2 is a proving ground, not a free ride.

For fantasy, Brown is a stash with a four-week timer, not a streaming hope. Maye's Week 2 board just got thinner and more Doubs-dependent. New England paid a 2028 first-round pick to get Brown from Philadelphia. One half of a debut and a high-ankle MRI is not the partnership anyone sketched in July. The Steelers get the first look at a Patriots offense missing its new star.

Brown finished Wednesday with three catches for 26 yards before the boot. He had already drawn a deep pass-interference flag that set up Eli Raridon's 2-yard touchdown, so the sample of the Maye-Brown connection was real before the ankle ended it. Patriots fans wanted a full September of that. Instead they get a four-week floor and a receiving room that has to earn trust the hard way.