Patriots Officially Place A.J. Brown on IR Following Ankle Injury

The New England Patriots have officially placed star wide receiver A.J. Brown on injured reserve following a brutal ankle injury in the team's Week 1 loss to the Seattle Seahawks.

New England's decision will now keep Brown out for at least four games, if not longer. The original diagnosis for Brown was three to six weeks, making the Patriots' decision to do this an easy one.

It was reported that Brown suffered a high-ankle sprain and that he would be undergoing an MRI to determine the severity of the injury.

Brown was injured early in the third quarter against the Seahawks being removed from the game. There was concern after the incident took place, but thankfully, the injury wasn't worse than it became.

The star wideout will now be eligible to return in Week 6 against the New York Jets. But his status remains in question at this time.

The Patriots will face the Pittsburgh Steelers, Jacksonville Jaguars, Buffalo Bills and Las Vegas Raiders over the next four games. New England will need to steady the offense without Brown, which could be hard to do against some tough opponents.

Brown was the Patriots' big-time offseason acquisition, with the expectation that he could help transform this offense. The Patriots traded two draft picks to the Philadelphia Eagles to land Brown.

Without Brown in the lineup against Seattle, the New England offense looked stagnant, which could be a troubling sign for the coming weeks. New England is going to need wide receivers Romeo Doubs, Mack Hollins, and others to step up in his absence.

Doubs was the other big addition to the offense this summer, and he will now be relied upon even more. In his debut against New England, Doubs left much to be desired, with him not recording a catch and dropping an easy ball that would have set the Patriots up well late in the game.

New England will now be tested in ways that they had hoped wouldn't come, but this team has shown resiliency time and time again. Quarterback Drake Maye will have to put his guys on his back, leading them to some big wins until Brown can return.

But losing Brown is tough for the Patriots, and all the team can do now is hope for the best in terms of his injury recovery. Before going out against the Seahawks, Brown had recorded three catches for 26 yards.