There was no easing into life as a Patriot for A.J. Brown.
During the Patriots’ first day of training camp, quarterback Drake Maye threw his first pass in 11-on-11 drills to Brown, who dropped a one-handed catch attempt.
While the play could have marked a great start to the Pro Bowl receiver’s time in New England, it instead served as a moment for head coach Mike Vrabel to prove Brown would not get special treatment.
Brown admitted while speaking to the media Monday that Vrabel called him out in a Patriots team meeting, which was something the receiver said brought him back to his rookie season with the Titans.
“First team meeting, he had ripped me for almost bringing in a catch, and he expected me to make that play,” Brown said. “Early on, as a rookie, I didn’t really like that too much, but now I know it comes from a great place and he expects me to make that play, and so do I.”
Three days into training camp, the Super Bowl champ still has only one catch from Maye during full-team drills. Brown will try to live up to the hype he brought to the team after forcing himself out of the Eagles.
Brown was acquired by the Patriots in June for a 2027 fifth-round pick and a 2028 first-round pick.
He said Vrabel “doesn’t care about style points” and would rather see Brown haul in a few easy catches than try and get the crowd going with a one-hander.
Mark Daniels of MassLive noted that despite the inherent lack of chemistry between quarterback and receiver right now, Maye has made it a point to target Brown early and often.
He also said the Pro Bowl receiver has been consistently running with the first team, as expected.
Brown said he expects to see his production ramp up as he and Maye start to learn each other’s game.
“Just being on the same page. Communication,” Brown said. “(It) may be an angle here. I may need to go higher or something small like that. The details are very small in this league, and you got to execute it. And so, as of yesterday, something so small and maybe the angle (leads to) tips and overthrows.”
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