FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Over the previous four seasons, the Eagles were A.J. On Wednesday, as Brown's New England Patriots hosted Philadelphia for the first of two joint practices, they were his foe. Brown squared off against his former team for the first time since the blockbuster trade that sent him to Foxborough in June.
While this wasn't a game setting, the veteran receiver certainly appeared to put some extra emphasis on the session. Out of the gate, Brown nearly sent the droves of fans watching from the practice-field stands in the shadow of Gillette Stadium into a frenzy. After the Patriots and Eagles finished their warmups and came together for 1-on-1s, Brown immediately lined up against former teammate and first-team All-Pro corner Quinyon Mitchell.
Brown got a step on Mitchell down the left sideline, and Drake Maye uncorked a perfectly placed ball into Brown's breadbasket for what would've been a touchdown. The fans were ready to explode, but Brown could only get his left hand on the ball, and the pass fell incomplete. "Q got away with a little holding," Brown said after practice with a laugh.
"I won, and he pulled himself back into the play, and I just have to finish the play. My right hand didn't get to the ball quick enough. My left hand got on the ball, and that's on me.
Attention to detail, catching the ball high, not letting it get low. It's those little things. "It's never about who I'm going against; it's the little things.
That could have been a 40-yard bomb, but now it's a long foul ball, right? Those are the things I'm focusing on." AJ Brown vs Quinyon Mitchell to start 1-on-1s pic.twitter.com/FFVgJtRVzC Whether it was a Mitchell hold or a Brown drop, it was the star receiver's lone blip on a thunderous day. The dropped touchdown against Mitchell during 1-on-1s was Brown's lone rep in that period, but he was extremely active in team drills.
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