New England Patriots
Brown attempted to appease the Gillette Stadium crowd with one drive from their franchise quarterback.
The Patriots were never planning on playing Drake Maye in their first preseason game against the Colts on Thursday night. But that didn’t stop the franchise quarterback from suiting up and leading his fellow quarterbacks onto the field for the first time in 2026.
And for one brief moment, newly acquired wide receiver A.J. Brown did try to appease the Foxborough faithful by getting Maye in for a drive in the fourth quarter. His efforts, however joking or serious, were for naught.
The Patriots posted the comical interaction on social media Friday, where Brown was seen clapping along to a “We Want Drake Maye” chant before physically dragging the third-year signal caller towards the field.
The duo laughed about it afterwards.
Maye and Brown’s highly anticipated season debut isn’t until Sept. 9, but the duo may take the field before then. Preseason Week 3 is typically when the starters get some playing time, but in the case of Brown, he may be in action sooner.
Thats thanks to New England’s second preseason opponent: Brown’s former team, the Philadelphia Eagles. Brown will have plenty of juice at joint practice this coming week, and may demand at least a drive or two against Philadelphia.
Nevertheless, Thursday night gave Patriots fans a proper first look at Brown in his gameday gear.
Maye and Brown have torn it up in practice so far, and they’re a perfect fit for each other on paper. Maye thrives when taking shots downfield, and Brown is an elite deep threat. So all eyes are on Week 1, when they’ll finally take that practice connection into the regular season.
Week 2 of the preseason slate is set for a 7 p.m. kickoff at Gillette Stadium for Patriots-Eagles.
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