A.J.Brown

News: 16 hours agoBrown is expected to miss four weeks with the ankle injury he suffered in Monday night's loss to the Seahawks, Ian Rapoport of ESPN and NFL Network reports.

Spin: Brown is believed to be dealing with a high-ankle sprain that may require a stint on injured reserve, per NFL reporter Jordan Schultz. The good news is he suffered the injury on a Wednesday, which gives him a few extra days to rehab this week, but it's still looking like the star wideout will miss multiple games. While Brown is sidelined, the Patriots will need to lean on Romeo Doubs at wideout, while DeMario Douglas, Mack Hollins and Kyle Williams all figure to take on larger roles. Hunter Henry is also a candidate to see a bigger target share while Brown is sidelined.

ESPN Fantasy Projection: Brown was traded to the Patriots in June. The veteran receiver enters 2026 looking to continue his streak of finishing in the top 15 in fantasy points per game during each of the four seasons he was with the Eagles. That includes an 11th-place finish in 2025 in which Brown reached the 1,000-yard mark for the sixth time in his seven NFL seasons while finding the end zone exactly seven times for the third year in a row. Brown continues to benefit from elite usage (he has finished no lower than seventh among WRs in target share each of the past seven seasons) and elite efficiency (he has finished 80th percentile or better in yards per route run all seven years). He could use more end zone targets in New England (he had a career-low four last season), but Brown, 29, is set to work as Drake Maye's top target in a good Patriots' offense. He is a fringe fantasy WR1.