Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Alert: Patriots’ A.J. Brown Knee Condition Revealed by Eliot Wolf

Starting point is 00:00:00 Elliot Wolf goes on the record about A.J. Brown's knee condition and what he said has some fans rattled. This is Locked on Patriots. You are Locked on Patriots. Your daily New England Patriots podcast. Part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. What's happening? I am your host, Nick Cattels. On today's episode, the 2026 schedule provides plenty of challenges for A.J. Brown, but also opportunities. In the second segment, the addition of Brown makes the Pat's skill positions complete. But first, the condition of the wide receiver's knee in what it all means. We discussed this week that this trade for A.J. Brown brings risk.

Starting point is 00:00:50 Objectively looking at this, it's not a home run. It's not a no-brainer. And a big piece of that risk is A.J. Brown's health, his knee. And there have been plenty of reports about Brown's knee and how much of a problem it has been, how much of a problem it's been for years. But some people, and I get it, they don't quite trust insiders. They don't believe insiders. Leaks happen for a reason.

Starting point is 00:01:14 Well, Elliot Wolf went on the record and discussed A.J. Brown's knee condition with J. Epstein of Yahoo Sports. And pretty much what Elliot Wolf said was, there is a there-there-there with A.J. Brown's knee. Let's go to the story. Yes, Wolf acknowledged. Brown has a degenerative knee condition. But as the player said in his defense, he missed only one regular season game in three Philly seasons

Starting point is 00:01:41 due to a knee injury designation. Now, of course, you can look at other seasons. Hamstring injury in 2024 cost A.J. Brown three games that year. But in all seven years of A.J. Brown's career, he's played at least 13 games. Here's what Wolf said, quote, it's a factor. But we examined him. 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, unquote.

Starting point is 00:02:10 Now, of course, a medical staff, a training staff signing off on a certain injury doesn't necessarily mean there's nothing to be concerned with. Teams will take the risk. They understand. And as Elliot Wolf said, this is a factor. The knee is a factor. But we examined him. He's got the knee that has some.

Starting point is 00:02:32 wear and tear that we were aware of. So we can't ignore this. Ignoring it would be ridiculous. It would be disingenuous. When Elliot Wolf, the guy who pulled the trigger on this trade, says that the knee is a factor, then the knee's a factor. The knee is not going to heal. No miracle is going to happen. The degeneration is not just going to stop just like that. And this knee injury, this knee condition is going to impact A.J. Brown as a New England patriot. Now, of course, there's no exact diagnosis. There can be a lot of knee conditions. There could be a lot of levels of knee conditions. You could be talking about osteoarthritis, for example, which is a gradual type of deterioration, degeneration. takes time and sometimes lots of time.

Starting point is 00:03:26 Now eventually, if it is osteoarthritis, eventually, A.J. Brown, his knee, will end up being bone-on-bone. And when you get to bone-on-bone, that's no boino. But we don't have the exact diagnosis. We just know that there is a condition with the knee and it is labeled as a degenerative knee condition, which can be a number of things. We also have to understand, acknowledge, appreciate that every single pro athlete, especially in the NFL, has some type of wear and tear. It would be ludicrous to believe if you had imaging of Brown's knee that nothing would pop up. I mean, he's going to be 29 in just a matter of time.

Starting point is 00:04:15 It's not like he's a 15-year-old high school student who's just starting to play. football. He turns 29, June 30th, so about three, four weeks away from his 29th birthday. And when you play football, you play a lot of football, you're going to have wear and tear. Now, we should also acknowledge and appreciate that this knee condition was brought up early on in A.J. Brown's career. It's one of the reasons reportedly why the Tennessee Titans would not sign A.J. Brown to a big fat contract extension and traded him to fit. Philly in the first place. Now, you would argue, and I don't mind the argument at all, that this was a concern for Philly and A.J. Brown did just fine. Now, of course, in 2025,

Starting point is 00:05:03 last season, there was some decline there. And you can see that he's not the same guy. Now, that happens to every professional athlete as they age, but especially a pro athlete who has something going on with the knee. The most significant question here is how much where and tear exists. And how close are we talking about bone-on-bone here? How close is A.J. Brown to a debilitating type knee condition? We don't know. We don't know.

Starting point is 00:05:38 But it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that the Patriots are not signing off on this deal if they feel like A.J. Brown's knee is a ticking time bomb. If they feel like, oh, man, that looks really bad, we'll be lucky to get one year out of this guy. They're not trading a 2028 first round pick and 2027 fifth round pick for somebody that they don't think is going to help them for the next couple of years at least. The Patriots have to be comfortable doesn't mean that they're right, but they have to be comfortable that A.J. Brown is going to give them two to three years of productivity and productivity that would justify the terms of this trade. Now, what do you do if you're the Patriots? Well, Mike Vrable, his ability to manage veterans

Starting point is 00:06:29 is one thing you look at. We saw Vrable manage Morgan Moses and Robert Spillane and even Christian Barmore coming off his physical issues, his health issues. And so Mike Vrable, I would imagine, is going to manage A.J. Brown. and he might manage Brown heavily. The medical and training staff.

Starting point is 00:06:55 They are well aware of this issue, and you plan for this issue, and you draw up a literal plan. How much will A.J. Brown practice. What's he doing at those practices? How involves will he be during camp, the joint practices, the preseason to get ready for the season. Now, the history isn't bad here. Brown has played in 15 or more games in three of his last four seasons. And not only did he play last year, not only did he post, as they say,

Starting point is 00:07:26 because he certainly did post last season, as much as you want to talk about, you know, what he did and what he didn't do. He started 15 games last year out of a possible 17. And not only that, he took a lot of snaps. And throughout his Philadelphia career, he took a lot of snaps. of Boston Sports Journal wrote that Brown rarely came off the field for the Eagles.

Starting point is 00:07:51 When you look at his snap percentage the last four years, it was 91%, 86%, 89% and 85%. I mean, Stefan Diggs, I think, played like 55% of the snaps last year, 55 to 60% of the snaps. So not only was A.J. Brown healthy enough to play while he was in Philadelphia, he was healthy enough to play a ton, never played under 85% of the snaps. He's not just posting, he's playing. And it would also be disingenuous, ignorant, negligent for me to sit here and not mention that medicine, treatment evolves and improves over time, certain things that you can do to the knee, certain treatments that A.J. Brown can go under. These are, these are, these are certain things that weren't necessarily available to him early on in his career or through his

Starting point is 00:08:47 college career. Look at Jason Tatum. If you are a Patriots and Celtics fan, which I'm sure many of you are, look at Jason Tatum. The Achilles gone, right? Well, not literally gone, but you get what I mean. Blows out the Achilles. He's back within 10 months looking at least like 85% of himself. And so as time moves along, medicine moves along, treatments move along. And that allows players to have a longer impact on the game than they might have had 10, 15, 20 years ago.

Starting point is 00:09:27 And one last thing, A.J. Brown is aware of this. He's aware of the condition. He has worked around this condition for the entirety of his NFL career. He is obviously someone who has been meticulous in his treatment because if he wasn't meticulous and dedicated to his treatment, he's not playing the amount of snaps that he has played in Philadelphia with this knee. He is cognizant of doing too much. I'm sure he's cognizant of what he does on the field in certain situations to take care of the knee. So Brown is aware. The team is aware.

Starting point is 00:10:04 Mike Vrable, the medical and training staff will certainly come. up with the plan. There is no guarantee, but the Patriots felt good enough to sign off on this trade. They feel like Brown will be able to give them two to three years of very good, if not tip-top productivity at wide receiver. All right, adding Brown was a big step towards making the Pat's weaponry complete. It's coming up next. This is Lockdown Patriots, part of the Lockdown podcast network. Now the number one sports podcast network, your team, every day. This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Summer is supposed to be the season everyone looks forward to, vacations, longer days, more time outside, more plans with family and friends. But for a

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Starting point is 00:11:32 Sign up and get 10% off at BetterHelp.com slash lockdown. That's better. H-E-L-P-com slash lockdown. Most of the attention we've paid has been on A.J. Brown for obvious reasons, the individual player. But adding a legitimate alpha wide receiver does wonders for this offense. And I think helps them complete the skill positions that they want to complete to be even more effective offensively than they were last year. Thank you for making us your first listen and for being an everydayer.

Starting point is 00:12:11 Get your daily Patriots fix completely ad free by joining the Everydayer Club today. Start your seven day free trial right now and get closer to your team without the interruptions. Click the link in the show notes or go to lockdown patriots.com to claim your free trial. Don't forget as you watch us on YouTube to click that thumbs up. Give us a like. Throw a comment in your thoughts on Elliot Wolf's comments regarding A.J. Brown's knee condition. Want to know how you feel. So like, comment and subscribe.

Starting point is 00:12:40 The goal, of course, as I've said before, I'll say it again, is 10,000 subscribers. We are getting closer and closer to that number. I appreciate every single one of you. With A.J. Brown, your skill positions are mostly complete. I mean, let's just think about not only what A.J. Brown brings to the table, which we have talked about this week, right? He is a boundary wide receiver. He is great when it comes to contested catches.

Starting point is 00:13:07 He attacks the middle of the field. He is a yak machine. He is physical. He's a bully. He sets the tone. That's what A.J. Brown is. He's versatile. Can line up inside.

Starting point is 00:13:20 Can line up outside. And then you've got Romeo Dobbs, who really is your quintessential number two receiver. When the Patriots signed Romeo Dobbs, I had said he is more of a two than a one. I thought he could be an upgrade over Stefan Diggs, given Diggs's age. some other things that Dobbs can do that Diggs might not be able to do at this point.

Starting point is 00:13:43 But Romeo Dobbs is the quintessential number two receiver. And not only that, he is a Swiss army knife. Mike Reese, ESPN.com, wrote recently. Elliot Wolf noted how Romeo Dobbs played primarily on the outside with the Packers, but the Patriots view him as having a diverse skill set incapable of moving around the formation. Wolf added that Dobbs's route variants also appealed to the Patriots and how often offensive coordinator, Josh McDaniels, has identified routes he did not run in Green Bay that could further help him grow as a player. So look for Dobbs to be more of a chess piece in the offense similar to how McDaniels utilized Jacoby Myers.

Starting point is 00:14:23 So you've got the boundary legit alpha X receiver in A.J. Brown. You have the Swiss Army knife in Romeo Dobbs. you hope that one or both of Efton Chisholm, Kyle Williams, you hope they develop because those guys could possibly be Swiss Army Knives as well. You know, Kyle Williams, many would argue, is better suited at the Z position moving all around instead of just playing as much X as he did last year. He's obviously not going to play as much X in 2026, thanks to Brown's presence.

Starting point is 00:15:00 But you've got Romeo Dobbs, the Swiss Army knife, while hopefully developing Chisholm and Williams as that type of receiver as well. Then you also look at Mack Hollins. And we've discussed how A.J. Brown can play, you know, the big slot. Well, Mac Hollins can play the big slot as well. You move on to Pop Douglas. If Pop Douglas stays on this team remains a Patriot for 2026, he is your, you know, short area quickness gadget guy who can also, at times,

Starting point is 00:15:33 impact defenses deep down the field, the surprise element. So when you start to look at all these receivers and the pieces, the skill sets that they bring to the table, you've got your boundary that you can move in to a big slot in A.J. Brown. You've got another boundary guy who you can move in as a big slot in Mac Hollins. You've got the Swiss Army Knife, Romeo Dobbs, who can do everything while Efton Chisholm and Kyle Williams develop in that role as well. and then you have the Pop Douglas element, the gadget guy, short area quickness, who can also surprisingly beat you deep every once in a while.

Starting point is 00:16:12 You've got all the fixings in this wide receiver room, but it doesn't stop there because you also look at running back. Because this is about the offense being complete, not just the wide receiver room being complete. You have your solid downhill yards after contact, contact, contact balance type guy in Ramandre Stevenson. He can get those tough yards in between the tackles. He should be really good and short yardage as long as your offensive line doesn't get blown up.

Starting point is 00:16:45 And then you have Trevionn Henderson. We talked about it last year, the Thunder and Lightning. You still have that. You've got the thunder and you've got the lightning. Trayvion Henderson is that house call running back. Now, of course, Remandre Stevenson can also make the house call. but Trayvion Henderson is more of the big play type of running back. Both of those guys can catch.

Starting point is 00:17:08 Both of those guys can make plays out of the backfield as a receiver. Both of them can run wheel routes. Both of them can line up outside, line up in the slot. I would anticipate Trayvion Henderson being a bigger piece of the puzzle as a pass catching running back from time to time when he's out there. So you've got the solid, strong, downhill. yards after contact running back. You've got the home run hitter,

Starting point is 00:17:34 and you've got both of those guys capable of catching the football, making plays in the passing game. And when you look at 2026, you also have something that you did not have in 2025, which is a smash mouth fullback who also has past protection capability. And that, of course, is Reggie Gilliam. That's another piece of the offensive puzzle. You have the trustworthy, dependable possession tight end in Hunter Henry. You have the big play downfield element at tight end from Eli Rairdon.

Starting point is 00:18:10 And there's no doubt that the Julian Hill injury, which will cost him this season that we talked about in our bonus episode on Tuesday, there's no doubt that losing Julian Hill is a hit to this offense and trying to make this offense as complete as possible. but I am optimistic that the Patriots will find an answer at Y tight end. We talked about the possibilities, right? I don't think that's Jack Westover. I don't think he's a good enough blocker. I don't think he has enough size. He doesn't have enough grit to his game.

Starting point is 00:18:42 But I do think Eli Raarden is a better blocker than people give him credit for. I would not throw him in the deep end right away. But you look at CJ DePree. You look at Tanner Arkin, a couple guys, UDFAs. I especially pay attention to Arkin. We discussed this again on the bonus pod, but Tanner Arkin is a good, if not really good blocking tight end. So he could end up being the answer.

Starting point is 00:19:09 Or the Patriots go out and they acquire somebody. They sign somebody. They trade a late round pick for somebody. But I do think the Patriots, they want to run the football. They want to be committed to improving the run game. They will find a solution at Y tight end. They have enough time to do that. It is early June.

Starting point is 00:19:26 Julian Hill did not get injured in October. That's the silver lining here. And then, you know, you should improve in short yardage. You should improve at your third down offense. And what you do there, you should absolutely improve in the red zone. You've got the run game. You've got the tight ends. You've got, you know, third down wide receiver tight ends.

Starting point is 00:19:47 Your options on those downs. I mean, Josh McDaniels and Drake May have pretty much everything. they need to have skill position-wise to be a top-tier offense. A.J. Brown was the icing on the cake. But we just ran through it. I mean, they've got pretty much everything checked off. Every box is checked off from a skill set vantage point. You got to get that wide, tight end. You got to see if you can fill that Julian Hillhole. But again, I think they will. everything is there is there right in front of them.

Starting point is 00:20:26 Josh McDaniels, Drake May, they have everything they need at the skilled positions to be a top, top tier offense. And I know they were a top tier offense statistically last year, but I would not be super confident if it was the same offense on paper last year against this year's schedule. I would not be super confident in the offense being top five.

Starting point is 00:20:48 with the players they have on this roster, even against this schedule, which is much tougher and more challenging, I think you've got a top-tier offense here. Coming up, we lay out the 2026 schedule for the newest addition to the Pat's offense. This is Lockdown Patriots, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Support for today's episode comes from Square, the business platform that helps sellers become neighborhood favorites, whether you're gearing up for a busy season or just trying to keep up with everyday demand, Square keeps your business running smoothly from payments to online orders, inventory, staff, and more. All in one place so you can focus on your customers, not your to do list.

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Starting point is 00:22:06 That's SQUA-R-E.com slash go slash lockdown NFL. Get started with Square and build a setup that works the way that you do. Alpha wide receivers demand attention. They demand the opposition's number one outside corner. And when looking at the 2026 schedule, AJ Brown will certainly have his share of interesting challenges. Thanks for checking out the lockdown podcast network. Now the number one sports podcast network.

Starting point is 00:22:36 Don't forget if you're watching us on YouTube to like, comment, and subscribe. Trying to build out this community. If you like what we do, if you love what we do, make sure you like, comment, and sub. The 2026 schedule, as I just mentioned in the last, segment is more challenging than last year's schedule. There is absolutely zero debate about that.

Starting point is 00:22:59 And now that you have acquired A.J. Brown, the question is, what does the 2026 schedule mean for A.J. Brown? Well, I think it means opportunity. Because there are certain challenges at the cornerback position that Brown is going to face. There's going to be about a handful of tough matchups, I think, for him. But when you look at all 17 games, there are not too many top-tier corners that he's going to face. Right out of the gates, week one, Devin Witherspoon. One of the better corners in football, he is in the middle of a negotiation with Seattle, much like the Patriots are in the middle of a negotiation with Christian Gonzalez.

Starting point is 00:23:43 I would imagine, I would expect Devin Weatherspoon to be out there week one. So that is quite a tough start for A.J. Brown because, again, Devin Witherspoon is one of the best in the game. So that's one of his toughest challenges right at the beginning. But then if you look at it, really, two of the tougher challenges this season are the first two weeks, because not only do you have Devin Witherspoon week one, then you come back week two against Pittsburgh. You've got Joey Porter Jr. And they signed Jamel Dean from Tampa this off season. So you've got two good, if not really good corners in Pittsburgh that you have to deal with.

Starting point is 00:24:33 So the back-to-back challenge at the very beginning of the season is going to be fascinating because everybody's going to be pumped up. Everybody's going to be pumped in Jack to watch AJ Brown as a Patriot, that first regular season game. And then, you know, the second game. Can he kind of settle his feet? Everybody's going to be so excited for the AJ Brown edition, and they should be. But I don't know what kind of start he's going to have.

Starting point is 00:25:01 If he comes out week one, week two, and he produces at a high level, then the excitement is only going to be ratcheted up from that point. Because then you got to wait until week seven when you play a cornerback that I would consider, you know, above average. and that's Jalen Johnson of Chicago. And then you've got to wait until week 10 in Germany to play a couple of other good corners, DJ Reed and Terry and Arnold of Detroit.

Starting point is 00:25:31 And then, you know, you've got week 14, Brian Flores' defense, not necessarily, you know, top flight corners, but Brian Flores' defense can be a headache. And then week 15, young Mansour Delane, who was drafted by Kansas City. Kansas City moved up to draft him.

Starting point is 00:25:54 That's your week 15 matchup. And then the toughest matchup of the season is the penultimate game against the Broncos at Gillette when you got to face Patrick Certain. So overall, when you look at it, I said handful. It's actually seven.

Starting point is 00:26:11 Seven weeks that I would say, seven out of the 17, where you're facing really good, to top-notch corners. Devin Witherspoon, top-notch corner. Joey Porter, Jr., Jamel Dean, really good. Jalen Johnson, good to really good.

Starting point is 00:26:30 DJ Reed, Terry and Arnold are good if not really good. The challenge of Brian Flores' defense. Mansour Delane's a rookie, we'll see, but by week 15, I would just imagine he is playing some good football. And then week 17, the toughest of all, Patrick Sartan. So you've got seven weeks that A.J. Brown will be faced, some very stiff competition. And what will be critical during those seven weeks is not just what A.J. Brown does individually,

Starting point is 00:27:00 but you're talking about Josh McDaniels' scheme. How does Josh McDaniels scheme A.J. Brown open in some of these matchups. What will also be critical is Romeo Dobbs and whoever is your third receiver or fourth receiver, those opportunities for those guys, because, again, you would expect Devin Witherspoon to be occupied by A.J. Brown. Same thing with Joey Porter, Jr. Even though you got Jamel Dean again, tough, tough tandem. But Jalen Johnson, Terry and Arnold,

Starting point is 00:27:32 Mansour Delane, Certain. Those guys should mostly be paying attention to A.J. Brown, which opens up the opportunities for those other receivers, those seven weeks, to do work. The tight ends should be involved more. And, of course, the run game. So those seven weeks, it's going to be critical. That McDaniel's scheme is really good.

Starting point is 00:27:55 His game plan is excellent. You've got to hope those other receivers produce when you need them to along with the tight ends, and you're going to need some run game. Now, you've got a couple of soft matchups here. The soft matchups, almost as many as the tougher matchups. You've got the Raiders, soft. You've got the Jets, not once but twice. soft. You've got the dolphins. Now, the dolphins

Starting point is 00:28:19 interesting because they drafted Chris Johnson, but how quickly does Chris Johnson make an impact? We'll have to wait and see. Green Bay, not great corners. The chargers, not great corners. So those are the soft matchups. It's kind of funny because you get the seven tough matchups, and you've got two, four, five, six, seven soft matchups, which leads me to three more

Starting point is 00:28:45 matchups on the schedule that I would say are mid-tier. Mid-tier, you still got some questions, and that would be the Jacksonville Jaguars, Travis Hunter, what's he do? And the Buffalo Bills, you obviously have them twice being a division rival. Christian Benford is a good corner. I wouldn't say he's a great corner. I think A.J. Brown could do some work against Christian Benford. So that's really how the schedule breaks down. If you're looking at just strictly on paper, cornerbacks receivers outside corner one versus AJ Brown. You've got seven tougher matchups. You've got seven softer matchups.

Starting point is 00:29:24 And then you've got three kind of in the middle tier of matchups. So there's going to be challenges, but there is also going to be opportunity for Drake May and AJ Brown to go to work. That wraps up this edition of Lockdown Patriots. Thank you for making us your first listen and for being an everydayer. reach out to me on Twitter at Nick C. Radio. And don't forget to throw a comment in on the YouTube channel, hit that like button and subscribe.

Starting point is 00:29:48 And if you never miss an episode, the Everydayer Club is built for you. Get Lockdown Patriots, ad free, plus members-only discord access and more. Head to Lockdown Patriots.com or check the link in the show notes to learn more.

Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Alert: Patriots’ A.J. Brown Knee Condition Revealed by Eliot Wolf

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