The Patriots are making final preparations for an AFC East matchup with the Jets and have officially activated star WR AJ Brown (ankle) from injured reserve for Sunday.
The Patriots activated the star from injured reserve on Saturday after a four-game absence due to a sprained ankle. Along with Brown, New England also elevated DB Elliott Davison and released RB Hassan Haskins from the practice squad. The Patriots did not activate second-year OT Marcus Bryant or elevate a running back, suggesting LT Will Campbell (knee, questionable) and RB TreVeyon Henderson (ankle, questionable) are leaning towards playing Sunday.
Brown returns to the lineup more than five weeks after suffering a high-ankle sprain 30 times during his Patriots debut in Seattle. Brown, a longtime Pats fan, had to put his highly anticipated Patriots career on hold when he failed on a weak catch attempt early in the third quarter against the Seahawks. Although it was a small sample size, Brown had already caught three passes for 26 yards and had a 34-yard pass interference penalty that set up New England’s only touchdown.
The Patriots traded a 2028 first-round pick for Brown in June to become top target for quarterback Drake Maye, pairing the veteran with free agent Romeo Doubs. After exciting flashes in training camp, we haven’t seen the Patriots offense at full strength with a healthy Brown outside of more than two quarters in Week 1. While it’s great to have Brown back, the team will likely ease him back into the offense.
New England will travel to Chicago for a short week to face the Bears on Thursday Night Football in Week 7. The Pats will play two games in five days, which could factor into Brown’s number of games on Sunday. With little practice time in between, Sunday’s game could be a ramp-up for Brown rather than a return to his usual workload as he works to regain fitness after a four-week layoff. Still, as Maye said earlier this week, Brown’s presence alone will help the Patriots attack their division rival on Sunday.
“It definitely opens up other parts of the court and other parts of the game for guys. I think you see it in the NBA; it’s probably the closest thing I can think of. When they start doubling the best player once they get past half court, they leave a corner three open or a guy open for a dunk. So, it’s kind of like playing receiver and with a guy like that – we have a lot of guys who have made plays now, so it’s going to be tough for defenses,” Maye said.
Getting back to the Pats quarterback, Brown joins a group of wide receivers who all contributed to the offense’s 45-point performance against the Raiders last week. The star player will likely log most of his snaps at the “X” receiver position with Doubs and possibly WR Efton Chism III playing as the other base receiver (Z). Then slot WR DeMario Douglas will step in on passes, and second-year player Kyle Williams can step in at the “X” to spell Brown. After months of preparation, it should be exciting to see Brown play at Gillette Stadium for the first time on Sunday.
As for moves the Patriots didn’t make, New England waits another week before activating second-year OT Marcus Bryant (ankle) from injured reserve. Bryant opened his 21-day practice window on Wednesday, Oct. 14, the same day as Brown, meaning the team has until Nov. 4 to activate it. The Pats used one of their eight designated spots to move back on Bryant by designating him on roster reduction day, so you’d think they would have ultimately put Bryant on the 53-man roster rather than burning a designation.
That said, the Patriots only had one open spot on the active roster, which went to Brown, while Bryant remaining on injured reserve signals that starting LT Will Campbell (knee, questionable) will play Sunday. Campbell injured his knee when he was rolled up on a running play in the second quarter last week. Campbell didn’t talk about the win against the Raiders, but he told reporters his knee injury wasn’t as serious as the MCL sprain that put him on injured reserve in 2025. With first-rounder Caleb Lomu as injury insurance in case Campbell’s knee blew out, the Patriots opted to delay activating Bryant.
At running back, the Patriots could have elevated RB Lan Larison for the second time this season with RB TreVeyon Henderson (ankle) carrying a questionable designation. Like Campbell, early reports indicated that Henderson may have suffered a multi-week injury in Week 5. However, Henderson surprised himself by rebounding quickly from a high ankle sprain and practicing limitedly this week. Considering the team didn’t bring up a running back, that’s a good sign Henderson will play.
Finally, the Patriots elevated Davison for the second straight week after he played on five different special teams units (19 snaps) and got some cleanup snaps in the corner during last week’s blowout victory. Davison’s elevation comes with two corners, starter Carlton Davis III (neck) and rookie Karon Prunty (hamstring), already ruled out while rookie CB Channing Canada (hamstring) is officially questionable. Top corner Christian Gonzalez is expected to return this week, but Davison provides special teams and cornerback depth.
After activating him Saturday, Brown takes the open spot on the Patriots’ 53-man roster, which is now full, while Davison now counts toward the game-day roster limit. With two players already ruled out (Davis, Prunty), the Patriots will have to declare four more players inactive before Sunday’s game.
The Patriots host the Jets in a divisional game at Gillette Stadium on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.
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