Patriots Optimistic A.J. Brown Could Return in Week 12 After the Bye, Per Pelissero

The New England Patriots have spent most of this season waiting on A.J. Brown. On Saturday, for the first time in weeks, the waiting came with something that looked like a date. NFL insider Tom Pelissero reported in his November 7 newsletter, The Sweep, that New England is optimistic about Brown's recovery, writing that the team believes he will be "back sooner rather than later, perhaps after the Week 11 bye." That would put the 29-year-old in line for a possible return against the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday, November 29 — the first game after the break, and the start of the final stretch of the season. It is not a promise. The Patriots have set no firm return date, and Brown will still miss Sunday's Week 9 game against the Green Bay Packers, his sixth missed game of the season. But after a first year in New England that has gone wrong in almost every way it could, even a maybe is something. Brown arrived in June in a trade from the Philadelphia Eagles as the Patriots' big offseason acquisition, a three-time Pro Bowler expected to give quarterback Drake Maye the kind of weapon that changes a defence's entire week. Instead, he has played three games, caught nine passes for 101 yards, and not scored a touchdown. The season started with a high-ankle sprain in the opener against Seattle that cost him four games on injured reserve. He came back against the New York Jets on October 18, played four days later in Chicago and caught three passes for 48 yards — and then his knee flared up in practice. He has not played since, missing the November 1 win over Miami. Pelissero also noted that playing two games in five days may have contributed to the latest knee problem — the kind of scheduling squeeze that turns a manageable injury into a lingering one. Head coach Mike Vrabel addressed Brown's recovery on Friday, telling reporters the receiver is putting in the work behind the scenes. "I know he's working extremely hard to get back," Vrabel said. The calendar, at least, is on New England's side. After Green Bay, the Patriots travel to Germany to face the Detroit Lions on November 15, then take their scheduled bye. That break gives Brown two more weeks of recovery without costing him another game — time the Patriots will use carefully, given how this season has gone. Maye has managed without his best receiver so far, but the difference is obvious. Brown is the player defences have to account for on every snap, the one who opens up the field for everyone else. Getting him back for the Chargers game, and for the run-in beyond it, would be the closest thing to a mid-season signing the Patriots could hope for. For now, though, it remains what it is: optimism, not a guarantee. Patriots fans have heard good news about A.J. Brown before this season. They will believe this one when they see No. 1 running out of the tunnel again.