Patriots' Eliot Wolf makes big admission about A.J. Brown concern after trade with Eagles

Supposed "medical concerns" about A.J. Brown's knee reportedly resulted in the Los Angeles Rams ending their talks with the Philadelphia Eagles regarding a trade for the wide receiver months before the Eagles officially sent Brown to the New England Patriots for a 2028 first-round draft pick and a 2027 fifth-round pick.

For a piece produced by Jori Epstein of Yahoo Sports that was published on Wednesday, Patriots executive vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf admitted that Brown's knee isn't quite as healthy as the player suggested on Tuesday. 

A.J. Brown has a degenerative knee condition

"Yes, Wolf acknowledged, Brown has a degenerative knee condition," Epstein wrote. "But as the player said in his defense, he missed only one regular-season game (plus one playoff game) in three Philly seasons due to a knee injury designation. Brown also missed three games due to a hamstring injury in 2024, per Fox Sports’ record of injury designations. In all seven years of Brown’s career, he’s played at least 13 games."

Epstein was referencing how Brown said on Tuesday that "maybe in four years, I’ve missed one game from a shot to the knee." Brown also insisted at that time that he had "no injury" in his knee. 

Brown's knee problems go back to when he played under current Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel with the Tennessee Titans from 2019 through the 2021 season. Wolf and Vrabel clearly aren't too concerned about Brown's knee ahead of the summer. 

"It’s a factor, but we examined him," Wolf added about Brown's knee. "He's got a knee that has some wear and tear that we were aware of. Our training staff and medical staff signed off on it." 

What already "stands out" about A.J. Brown for the Patriots

Quarterback Drake Maye is expected to target Brown in certain man-coverage and red-zone situations. Brown should also be New England's WR1 for as long as Maye, a 2024 first-round draft pick, is on his team-friendly rookie contract. 

"He’s incredibly powerful. That's the first thing that stands out," Wolf said about Brown. "He can get open one-on-one. He can get open versus zone. He's got a great feel. He's got great hands. He's able to adjust to the football. He's super strong. He's probably not quite as fast as he once was, but he can still run. There were even a couple times [Tuesday] where, and it was just kind of routes on air, where it was kind of cool to see. Like, 'All right, he’s still got some juice.'"

Considering what the Patriots gave up for him, Wolf likely hopes that Brown will have plenty of juice in the tank from now through January or February of 2027.