Catching up following a disjointed summer, the worries about A.J. Brown should fade, and other thoughts
Sharing some leftover pent-up thoughts while wondering if people remember that Randy Moss was doubted based on his 2007 training camp performance — or lack thereof, due to an Aug. 1 hamstring injury that year — and that camp isn’t always a predictor of pass-catcher success.
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⋅ There’s a gridiron graveyard full of Patriots wide receiver acquisitions that couldn’t figure out their demanding offense, including Chad Ochocinco, Joey Galloway, and Donald Hayes. A.J. Brown won’t be among them. There was ample consternation when the Brown-Drake Maye connection misfired in the first four practices of camp, but when the pads came on last Thursday — and then again on Friday when he torched Christian Gonzalez on a deep ball — Brown resembled the receiver who ranks fourth in both receiving yards and touchdown receptions since 2019. A.J. is going to be OK.
The early hysteria overlooked that Brown, acquired June 1, was playing catch-up during the team’s June OTA practices and mandatory minicamp. Watching him Thursday, there were no indications of physical decline beyond what was visible in Philadelphia. It was fair to wonder (after his falling out with Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts) if his connection courtship with Maye was headed in a reality dating show-worthy awkward direction, but that’s not the case.
One play stood out in 11-on-11 drills. The defense brought a nickel corner blitz from Maye’s right. He zipped a hot-read slant to Brown, who was exactly where he was supposed to be. That type of synergy is more important in the Patriots offense than ooh and aah-inducing deep balls.
“He’s a great player. A.J. is definitely a superstar,” said guard Mike Onwenu, who boasts more experience in this offense than anyone on the team. “Any time the ball is going to him, you know it’s a big-play target, or it’s a big play. It can be a big play.
“But just with the run plays, with the pass plays, whether it’s receivers blocking, seeing him buy into that, seeing him communicate with Drake whether it’s on the motions, shifts, or alerts, or giving him a different signal call, seeing the defense, seeing if the safety is rotating, and he got a slant or something like that. Seeing that work and just seeing that relationship blossom is great to see.”
Maye’s progress report?
“Just trying to get a feel for what he’s seeing, what I’m seeing, what he’s kind of feeling out there when he’s running routes and coverage,” he said. “So, it’s just trying to feel the connectivity building. … And that’s what he’s just trying to build — a relationship with me and him — and I think you’re just seeing it get better every day.”
⋅ The Do Know Wrong Red Sox are the feel-good story of the summer after a resurgent July, their sole winning month. This baseball observer believed the Red Sox weren’t as bad as their record when they were 14 games below .500. Conversely, no one should conclude the team is as good as winning seven straight series and 20 out of 23 games heading into their series with the Dodgers.
If the goal is, as chief baseball officer Craig Breslow stated on WEEI on Thursday, “to build a team that was capable of making a deep playoff run,” then there is still more work to do before Monday’s trade deadline. Reinforcements beyond Breslow’s savvy trade for now-injured thumper Curtis Mead are required.
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The Sox can’t count on the timely production they’ve gotten from super subs Andruw Monasterio, Anthony Seigler, and newbie platoon outfielder Jahmai Jones to carry over to October. As the estimable @redsoxstats pointed out on social media, Monasterio and fellow reserve Tsung-Che Cheng (now back in Triple-A Worcester) had the Red Sox first in the majors in batting average and on-base percentage from shortstop in July.
⋅ Some of the statistics cited to support the Jaylen Brown trade represent a textbook case of confirmation bias without context.
The Celtics were an astonishing 47-10 (.825) without Brown the past four seasons. You can’t ignore that. However, in 2020-21 and 2021-22, Boston went a combined 14-16 in games Brown missed.
The Celtics are 63-29 (.685) without Jayson Tatum over those same four Joe Mazzulla-led seasons, including 41-21 before he returned last season. During their 2024 championship season, Boston’s stacked team went 12-0 without Brown, but also 7-1 sans Tatum, averaging 128.8 points per game. The 9-2 record last season’s surprising Celtics posted without Brown looks an awful lot like the 8-2 mark the 2024-25 Celtics posted without Tatum.
Don’t discredit Brown. Credit the Celtics.
⋅ There are three ways they ultimately win the Brown deal:
— It’s truly addition by subtraction and Tatum and Payton Pritchard blossom as The Jays did freed from the “longest-tenured” lordship of Marcus Smart.
— Brad Stevens turns the Brown supermax salary slot that Paul George inherited and the draft picks into a superstar like Anthony Edwards or Nikola Jokic.
— Stevens transforms that slot into two rotation players, going all in on the Knicks model.
⋅ I’m sure it didn’t go unnoticed by Gonzalez that he clocked in as the highest-rated corner in the Madden NFL 27 video game with a 98. Players take these ratings seriously, often politicking for the game’s maker, Electronic Arts, to bump up their numbers. Similar to how Gonzalez wants the Patriots to bump up the numbers in their contract offer.
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