Patriots’ A.J. Brown Breaks Out With Drake Maye After Slow Training Camp Start

The early concern surrounding the New England Patriots’ biggest offensive addition began to ease Thursday.

After an uneven opening stretch of training camp, Drake Maye and A.J. Brown produced their sharpest practice together during New England’s first full-pads session of the summer.

The Boston Herald’s Zach Cox reported that Maye missed his first pass of 11-on-11 work, targeting Brown against Christian Gonzalez, before completing his final eight throws. Three of those completions went to Brown for touchdowns.

Pats Pulpit offered a similar picture from the red-zone-heavy practice, charting Maye at 4-of-5 when targeting Brown in team drills, with two touchdowns coming on slants.

The pair also connected on a fade during one-on-one work, with Maye dropping the pass into the back corner of the end zone.

They were once a duo trying to find timing during the opening days of camp.

Thursday represented a noticeable change.

Maye, Brown Turn Around Slow Start

The first few practices provided reminders that even accomplished players need time to adjust to one another.

RotoBaller, citing Andrew Callahan of the Boston Herald, reported earlier this week that Maye had completed only one of seven passes intended for Brown in team drills, with an interception.

Their lone completion came on a short out route, while the deeper timing had been inconsistent.

Brown also let a difficult one-handed opportunity slip away on the first day of camp with Gonzalez in coverage.

Mike Vrabel addressed the drop in a team meeting, something Brown later acknowledged while explaining the standard his coach expects.

Brown told reporters Monday that he felt about “90 percent” comfortable with Josh McDaniels’ offense. He said the next step with Maye centered on constant communication and learning how each prefers to operate.

That process looked considerably smoother Thursday.

Before practice, Vrabel expressed confidence that the connection would continue to improve and said Brown would have “plenty of opportunities” to help the offense.

A few hours later, the quarterback and receiver supplied their best evidence of that progress so far.

The red-zone success was especially encouraging.

Brown’s size and physicality give Maye a target who can win on quick routes in traffic and create favorable matchups near the goal line.

Patriots Bet Big on Brown Becoming Maye’s No. 1 Target

The Patriots didn’t make a minor acquisition by bringing Brown to Foxborough.

New England sent the Philadelphia Eagles a 2028 first-round pick and a 2027 fifth-round pick for the three-time Pro Bowler in June.

Brown arrived after finishing the 2025 season with 78 receptions for 1,003 yards and seven touchdowns, giving him six 1,000-yard seasons in seven years.

The trade paired one of the league’s most well-known receivers with a quarterback coming off a breakout season. Maye threw for 4,394 yards, 31 touchdowns and eight interceptions in 2025 while finishing second in NFL MVP voting.

Their fit looked obvious on paper.

Training camp is where the details have to follow.

Thursday at least showed how quickly the picture can change once the two begin seeing routes the same way.

The Patriots have other receiving options, including Romeo Doubs, but Brown was acquired to be the player Maye can trust when a play has to be made.

Three touchdown connections in one practice are still July outcomes.

The No.1 takeaway is that its new quarterback-receiver pairing finally looked closer to the version the organization envisioned when it went for gold by putting them together.

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