Patriots making expected A.J. Brown move after concerning injury report

The New England Patriots avoided a potential catastrophe when they learned that star wide receiver A.J. Brown suffered a high ankle sprain with no fracture during the club's 13-10 season-opening loss at the Seattle Seahawks on Wednesday night.

That said, subsequent reports revealed that Brown was expected to miss anywhere between three and six games due to this setback. On Friday, ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter shared some expected news regarding Brown's short-term status. 

A.J. Brown will now miss at least this many games

Per Schefter and others, the Patriots are placing Brown on injured reserve. Thus, the 29-year-old now won't be available for the Week 2 game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Week 3 matchup against the
Jacksonville Jaguars, the Week 4 contest at the Buffalo Bills and the Week 5 clash with the Las Vegas Raiders. 

Brown's status for the Week 6 game against the New York Jets won't be determined until some point next month.

Brown went down with the injury in the third quarter of Wednesday's game and did not return. Free-agent acquisition Romeo Doubs, who had a costly drop in the fourth quarter of the loss to the Seahawks, is currently on track to serve as the Patriots' WR1 against Pittsburgh on Sept. 20. 

The Steelers will open their season with a home game versus the Atlanta Falcons this coming Sunday afternoon. 

"Part of my job as a player is to make this team better," Doubs said after the loss, per Mark Daniels of MassLive. "And I’ll be better moving forward."

Are Patriots already regretting this offseason move?

As Chad Graff of The Athletic noted for a piece published on Friday, "the Patriots felt all offseason that wide receiver was one position where they had plenty of depth," which is one reason the club traded wantaway wideout Kayshon Boutte to the Houston Texans for safety Jaylen Reed and a 2028 seventh-round draft pick in late August. 

Boutte isn't a like-for-like replacement for Brown. However, one can't help but think the New England offense would be better today with Boutte serving as a weapon for quarterback Drake Maye.