Trent Brown will not be in the Patriots’ starting lineup against the Jets on Sunday. The calf strain the recently reacquired right tackle suffered last week will keep him out.
This marks the latest health setback for Brown, who missed much of last season due to injury and COVID-19 complications. Second-year UDFA Yasir Durant is the top candidate to fill in for Brown, Mike Reiss of ESPN.com tweets.
This marks the second straight year a calf injury will sideline Brown. His 2020 started similarly, with a Week 1 calf ailment leading to missed early-season time.
The Pats traded a 2022 fifth-round pick to the Raiders for Brown and a seventh-rounder and redid the large lineman’s contract. Part of Brown’s reworked deal includes per-game roster bonuses totaling $2 million. While Brown was called day-to-day after his latest injury, he missed New England’s Wednesday and Thursday practices and managed a limited session Friday. This participation might point to Brown missing just one week, but the run of bad breaks for the seventh-year veteran should be a bit of a concern for a team that also has a left tackle (Isaiah Wynn) with an extensive injury past.
Even though he became the rare right tackle Pro Bowl invitee in his first Raiders season, Brown missed five games in 2019. He missed 11 in 2020. After Brown’s calf issue forced him to miss three games last season, he had two stints on the Raiders’ reserve/COVID-19 list. While Brown did not miss a game for the Patriots in 2018, when he played a major role in the franchise winning its sixth Super Bowl, the 6-foot-8 blocker’s health in the time since he initially left New England has become an issue.
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