Mike Vrabel Dealt Concerning A.J. Brown News on Monday

Now, with Vrabel and Brown reunited, the two are practicing, preparing for the 2026 NFL regular season. During the Patriots training camp on Monday, which was open to the media, NFL Network's Mike Garafolo and Brian Baldinger spoke with Brown. Later, Garafolo posted the segment on the social media platform X. In the video clip, at around the 2:34 mark, Brown spoke about the physical nature of the practice, how he dislocated his thumb but was able to quickly get it put back into place, and that he would not want to miss practice because of a simple dislocated thumb.

"...It was so physical, you had your thumb dislocated against Gonzalez today," Baldinger said to Brown. "And then you just went and taped it up, put your glove back on, went out and did your thing."

"Yeah, it was tough," Brown responded. "I tried to get back into that flow state zone really quickly. Obviously, you're going through it quickly with some pain. You know, obviously, the game is what it is, and you're going to get bumps and bruises, and you got to keep going. I know it's practice, but I'm not coming out of practice if a thumb is out of place. You keep going..."

"Not even a dislocated thumb can wipe the smile off A.J. Brown's face these days," Garafolo wrote on X. "The #Patriots WR with @BaldyNFL and me on Inside Training Camp on @nflnetwork to talk Mike Vrabel, Josh McDaniels, why a finger out of place won't end his day + more."

New England will open the 2026 NFL regular season by traveling to Lumen Field to face the Seattle Seahawks in a rematch of Super Bowl LX on Wednesday, Sept. 9, at 8:20 p.m. ET.