Brown will miss upcoming matchups against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Jacksonville Jaguars, Buffalo Bills, and Las Vegas Raiders... at least. Brown, who suffered an ankle injury during his club's season-opening loss to the Seattle Seahawks, will miss a minimum of four games after being placed on injured reserve Friday. It's not exactly what the club hoped for when shipping off a future first-round pick for his services, but the message has been pretty simple since seeing the all-world wide receiver go down.
"Keep playing," Mack Hollins said this week, as transcribed by ESPN's Mike Reiss. "I wish life was like that, where you could wait for your guys to come back and be healthy again. The fortunate thing is we get another week to play a game." Hollins did his best to make up for the lost production after his teammate went down early in the second quarter, ultimately leading the club in receiving (four receptions, 51 receiving yards) after being thrust into working with the top group.
Demario Douglas was the only other wide receiver to catch a pass from the point of the injury onward, with offseason acquisition Romeo Doubs finishing with zero catches on three targets and sophomore Kyle Williams never being targeted despite entering the game on a few different occasions. "One of my jobs as a player is to make this team better, and I'll be better moving forward," Doubs said following the loss. It’s safe to say he doesn’t have much of a choice.
Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels made his name off designing game plans to specifically address and cover up weaknesses to the roster, with this instance being far from the worst that he’s had to deal with. Doubs and Hollins are veterans who have only ever upped their production with increased opportunities. Douglas’ role will not change.
Williams and Efton Chism, who entered the league together and have been touted as having made major strides this offseason, could surprise if actually given consistent opportunity. The Patriots should be just fine in the absence of their top guy, though they certainly can't wait to have him back.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
