Rob Gronkowski gets his Patriots Hall of Fame jacket on November 7th.
Four Super Bowls. Four First-Team All-Pro seasons. A career spent lined up next to a quarterback who never had to sweat his second read.
Three days earlier, the Patriots host Miami, and their best current receiver might not even dress.
A.J. Brown’s knee flared up again Thursday, knocking him out of practice with his Sunday status up in the air. Drake Maye at least cleared the injury report as a full participant despite a shoulder designation of his own.
Go ahead, cite the 4-3 record. Fine. It’s real. None of that changes what’s actually sitting in the receiver room right now.
One guy. That’s what’s in there.
Gronkowski’s Patriots had four or five. Welker. Edelman. Amendola. A tight end who dragged a second safety into the box just by lining up, four First-Team All-Pro seasons and all. Lose one of them, the next guy stepped in and barely anyone noticed. That’s what a dynasty looks like on a depth chart.
Brown is the one this time, and the knee underneath him isn’t a new problem.
In June, Eliot Wolf acknowledged A.J. Brown had a degenerative knee condition but the Patriots medical signed off on the trade.
Fast forward to this week and Brown has a knee issue that's flared up and his status for Sunday is up in the air https://t.co/q7ep30dK6G
— Mark Daniels (@ByMarkDaniels) October 29, 2026
Maye deserves real credit for covering for that. He’s been excellent since Week 4, running an offense that can’t afford to lose its only proven threat and somehow still holds together. A quarterback and a coaching staff are papering over that hole every single week.
Gronk gets his night at Patriot Place on the 7th. Three days earlier, the best player on this offense might be standing on the sideline in sweats.
