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By Rowan Fisher-Shotton
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After months of speculation, the New England Patriots made the biggest splash of the summer on June 1, trading for superstar wide receiver A.J. Brown. The deal saw the Patriots send a 2028 first-round pick and a 2027 fifth-round pick to the Philadelphia Eagles in exchange for the three-time All-Pro wideout. Just like that, Drake Maye got a true WR1, and head coach Mike Vrabel got another one of his former players — Vrabel drafted Brown in 2019 as head coach of the Tennessee Titans.
So far through training camp, Brown has shown the competitive edge that's made him such a dangerous receiving threat. During practice earlier in the week, he got into an intense one-on-one battle with Patriots star cornerback Christian Gonzalez, to the point where the two needed to be separated. Gonzalez later chalked it up to competitive fire between two elite players, something that's beneficial for both as they strive to be the best at their positions.
On Friday, Brown explained exactly what's been so different about his first training camp with the Patriots versus years past with Philadelphia and Tennessee.
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"This is my first time going against a defense on a day-to-day basis where the mentality has picked up. I believe we need to go against somebody else because we're right at the edge. And that's good for a team, that's really good for a team, but that mentality on both sides of going back and forth, we're toeing that line," Brown said.
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New England opens its preseason against the Indianapolis Colts on Thursday, Aug. 13, at Gillette Stadium. Vrabel hasn't outlined exactly how he plans to use Brown in the preseason opener, and chances are he'll only see the field for a handful of snaps as the team ramps things up over the next month. But it will be the first chance to see live game action with Brown catching passes from Maye — the duo Patriots fans have been waiting to see for months.
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