{"id":393,"date":"2026-06-03T11:39:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T11:39:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=393"},"modified":"2026-06-03T11:39:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T11:39:09","slug":"with-a-new-number-and-some-old-emotions-a-j-brown-is-finally-a-patriot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=393","title":{"rendered":"With a new number and some old emotions, A.J. Brown is finally a Patriot"},"content":{"rendered":"
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FOXBORO, Mass. \u2014 It\u2019s a great and oft-told story: Ever since he was a kid, A.J. Brown dreamed of one day playing for the New England Patriots. One can imagine, then, how excited he was on Monday when his agent called to say the deal was official: New England had acquired the veteran receiver from the Philadelphia Eagles in exchange for its first-round pick in the 2028 draft and a fifth-round pick in 2027.<\/p>\n

Read more Fight against Rapid Ohia Death advances<\/a><\/p>\n

But a phone call from his agent was not when the flurry of emotions came. For Brown, a 6-1, 226-pounder who turns 29 on June 30, that moment arrived when he took part in OTAs Tuesday morning at the Patriots\u2019 practice facility behind Gillette Stadium.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWalking up the hill, with the uniform on, I was like, man, this is real,\u201d said Brown, who will wear No. 1 with the Patriots. \u201cI caught myself at one point in practice \u2014 I wasn\u2019t paying attention, because I was, like, \u2018A.J.!\u2019 You know?\u201d<\/p>\n

Considering the months of speculation that led up to this deal, the whole football world knows Brown now plays for the Patriots. The whole football world understands the stakes, too: The Patriots, despite their surprising 14-3 record last year and a trip to the Super Bowl, recognized that while they have a top quarterback in Drake Maye, they needed to improve their receiving corps for 2026. Draftniks will argue that dealing a first-round pick was too high a price for a 29-year-old receiver, but the Patriots, in making the deal, have all but announced they are all in on returning to the Super Bowl.<\/p>\n

As coach Mike Vrabel put it, \u201cWe have to win. That\u2019s our job, to win. It\u2019s a job and responsibility and the expectation in the National Football League. It\u2019s not to go 4-13 two years in a row.\u201d<\/p>\n

Which is what the Patriots did in back-to-back seasons before 2025.<\/p>\n

While it\u2019s widely expected that Brown will be Maye\u2019s primary target \u2014 even with New England signing free agent Romeo Doubs in March \u2014 the Patriots are being careful in what they say about who catches what, and when.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the opportunities that everybody gets are going to be earned,\u201d was Vrabel\u2019s carefully phrased assessment of the situation. \u201cI think there\u2019s a spot for everybody. I think that guys give us reasons to give them opportunities. I can\u2019t predict the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

A look at the past is helpful, however. Brown has racked up 1,000-plus receiving yards in six of his seven NFL seasons.<\/p>\n

Still, even Brown is playing it cool on expectations.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just going to work hard, let the chips fall where they may,\u201d Brown said. \u201cGo out there and make plays and help my teammates. That\u2019s all.\u201d<\/p>\n

So unwilling was Brown to bask in the New England sun on Tuesday that he declined an offer to lead his new team in stretching before the workout began.<\/p>\n

\u201cFirst of all, you have to learn your guys,\u201d Brown said. \u201cYou just can\u2019t come in and demand it. Like today, they wanted me to get out there in front of \u2018em. I\u2019m \u2026 no. You gotta earn it \u2026 and I want to earn it. I want to earn those guys\u2019 respect.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brown already has earned the respect of Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, who had never met the team\u2019s newest receiver until Tuesday morning.<\/p>\n

\u201cBig, physical, aggressive, explosive, really good hands,\u201d McDaniels said. \u201cHe\u2019s just a competitive guy. And you watch him play, and there\u2019s a force to the way he plays the game. Looking forward to getting used to the things that he can do that I don\u2019t know about, which I\u2019m sure there are many of those.\u201d<\/p>\n

McDaniels, asked to compare Brown to other pass catchers he\u2019s worked with in New England, brought up receiver Randy Moss and tight end Rob Gronkowski.<\/p>\n

Read more Stephen Tsai: This beleaguered fan hopes Knicks finally end the misery<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cRandy was tall, certainly, and fast, and all the rest of it,\u201d McDaniels said. \u201cI\u2019m not sure I\u2019ve been around one that looked just like (Brown). Maybe the closest thing I\u2019ve seen is Gronk. This is a big guy, does a lot of things well, and (I\u2019m) looking forward to seeing how we can acclimate him and fit him into our process.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a longtime follower of the Patriots, Brown is familiar with McDaniels. He\u2019s familiar with Moss. He\u2019s familiar with Gronkowski. Mostly, he\u2019s familiar with Patriots legend Tom Brady, and to a degree, Brown was hoping to be drafted by the Patriots in the first round of the 2019 draft to create a Brady-to-Brown quarterback-receiver tandem.<\/p>\n

Instead, the Patriots went with receiver N\u2019Keal Harry with the 32nd and last pick in the first round. The Mike Vrabel-coached Tennessee Titans took Brown in the second round, No. 51 overall.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was a tough night,\u201d Brown said. \u201cI was looking forward to being picked in the first round. I was projected to be a first-round pick, but obviously, projections can go another way. I went back to my room, and I went into a closet and just tried to gather myself. I was disappointed. It was not where I wanted to be. Obviously, I wanted to play with Tom.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked later if there were any Patriots players he modeled his game after, built a relationship with or received advice from, Brown said, \u201cOther than the obvious, Tom, but nobody. Nobody.\u201d He then dropped Moss into his answer. He also said he opted not to wear No. 11, the number he wore for the Titans and Eagles, because he has too much respect for former Pats receiver Julian Edelman, who wore No. 11 during his New England years.<\/p>\n

Brown played four seasons for the Titans under Vrabel, even though he wasn\u2019t impressed with his new coach at first.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy first impression? I did not like him,\u201d Brown said. \u201cBut what I\u2019ve grown into, he\u2019s a great guy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vrabel, seen as the driving force behind the Patriots making this much-debated trade, is clearly positioning himself as president of the A.J. Brown Fan Club: New England chapter.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think he loves football,\u201d Vrabel said. \u201cI think he has a physical skill set. He\u2019s got great body control. He\u2019s strong at the catch point. But I also think he\u2019s grown as a player and as a receiver, just the nuances of releases versus press, playing versus bracketed coverages or zone coverages. He plays physical with the football and has been a productive and consistent player.\u201d<\/p>\n

During their time together in Tennessee, did Brown let Vrabel know about his dream of playing for the Patriots?<\/p>\n

\u201cI think I knew that,\u201d Vrabel said. \u201cI think he showed me pictures when he was a little kid wearing my jersey and stuff like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

That was a joke by the coach.<\/p>\n

Then Vrabel got serious.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we drafted him, he was like, \u2018I wish the Patriots drafted me,\u2019\u201d Vrabel said. \u201cAnd I said, \u2018That didn\u2019t happen. The Titans drafted you.\u2019 I think there\u2019s the success that (the Patriots) had in those years when a lot of our players were growing up, it would be easy to root for a lot of players that played for this team in the early 2000s.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more BIIF baseball: Napoleon-Umeda named Hawaii MaxPreps Player of the Year<\/a><\/p>\n

Now it\u2019s the 2020s, and Vrabel and Brown have been reunited in New England.\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With a new number and some old emotions, A.J. Brown is finally a Patriot – Sports | Hawaii Tribune-Herald<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":392,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-393","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\nWith a new number and some old emotions, A.J. Brown is finally a Patriot - Moving to Hawaii Guide<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=393\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"With a new number and some old emotions, A.J. 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