Drake Maye connection with A.J. Brown struggling early in Patriots training camp

A.J. Brown’s locker-room, social-media antics are well documented

New England Patriots wide receiver A.J. Brown is undoubtedly one of those players, causing controversy in back-to-back seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles. The former All-Pro pass-catcher, who was traded this offseason, criticized his old team’s passing game during their Super Bowl run in 2024 and stirred the pot with cryptic social-media posts last season.

Now, with the team he grew up rooting for, the organization and Brown’s biggest supporters are hoping he changes his tune. Although he hasn’t been in New England long enough to cause locker-room drama, his on-field rapport with quarterback Drake Maye has been poor to start training camp.

Drake Maye, A.J Brown struggling mightily to build on-field connection

After receiving just one target during the team’s practice Monday, Brown was targeted exponentially more on Tuesday, but the results were not there. Maye went just 1-of-7 when targeting the former Super Bowl champion during practice, with the Boston Herald's Andrew Callahan noting that he has been struggling with his deep ball.

A standout during the 2025 season, Maye is already under a ton of pressure to perform this season after a brutal postseason that saw his numbers plummet from his historic regular season. The addition of Brown was expected to give him a boost, with New England believing they added a game-changing wide receiver, but a nagging knee injury and these early-camp struggles are a major cause for concern.

Brown struggled mightily creating separation last year in Philadelphia, and from all the clips that have surfaced from Patriots training camp, he isn’t looking much better this year. He has had a cornerback glued to him in a number of videos and the timing just hasn’t been there with his quarterback.

Of course, these are just the first few days of practice, and the new duo has all the time in the world to smooth out the lumps. However, Patriots fans should be concerned that the volatile receiver who caused constant chaos with the Eagles is struggling early on. There are years of evidence to suggest that things could get ugly in the locker room if his connection with Maye doesn’t improve dramatically.