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When is A.J. Brown coming back? Will A.J. Brown play again this season? Read about A.J. Brown's return date and injury updates for 2026.
New England Patriots wide receiver A.J. Brown (ankle) was set to be a dominant target-earner and clear No. 1 receiver for his new team after signing a huge contract with them in the offseason. But the endless injury carousel had other plans.
Brown suffered a high-ankle sprain when he was tackled by a defender while attempting to make a reception in Week 1. His foot got trapped under the weight of the defender and bent outward at a very sharp angle. He's lucky to have escaped without a fracture or dislocation.
One of the biggest sources of injury in the NFL comes from the weight of one player falling on the back of the leg or foot/ankle area of another player, leading to fractures or sprains. Brown's injury isn't uncommon, but when will he be able to return to play? Is his fantasy football outlook affected by the injury for the rest of the season?
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A.J. Brown Injury Update for Fantasy Football
Brown was quickly placed on injured reserve after suffering his injury. This was after Week 2, so he'll only be required to miss one more game, a Week 5 contest, before he's eligible to return. It's not immediately clear during which week he'll come back, though.
AJ Brown appears to be down with an ankle injury https://t.co/jrHAzo5SyZ
— Rate the Refs (@Rate_the_Refs) September 10, 2026
A recording of the play showing the injury is above. It looks quite severe and incredibly painful. Thankfully, the play didn't result in a dislocation. The Patriots have indicated that they're "hopeful" that Brown will return in Week 6. That's a strong possibility.
Brown is known for playing through severe injuries for much of his career. In 2024, the season in which the Eagles won the Super Bowl, Brown admitted that he had to get his knee drained of fluid twice per week to manage a degenerative condition.
AJ Brown had to get his knee drained twice before each game last season and still managed to be an All-Pro also have 1000 + yards.. AJ Brown is different 💯 https://t.co/evVnLNp9YC
— YouTuber: Eagle AL (@kb_973) August 7, 2025
There have been serious red flags about Brown's health for a while. The ankle sprain looks like a random accident that doesn't have anything to do with his knee issue, but reports have suggested that he has degenerative arthritis in one of his knees.
A.J. Brown Fantasy Football Outlook
The most recent example of a high-profile wideout returning to play after a high-ankle sprain is Dallas Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb. He was genuinely outplayed by fellow Cowboys WR George Pickens after his return for the remainder of the 2025 season.
That storyline couldn't be more different this season. Pickens, a second-round pick in fantasy football leagues, has been quiet while Lamb has been absolutely dominant. In Week 4, Lamb racked up 41.3 PPR fantasy points, and he's the WR2 in points per game now.
CeeDee Lamb was wide open on this play and visibly frustrated after not getting the ball https://t.co/2Mk9zHXEUk
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) October 4, 2026
And his day could have been even bigger. He's one of the best wideouts in the game, and he looked somewhat pedestrian last season, even later into the year. This tracks with the fact that WRs simply do not tend to produce at 100 percent of their capabilities during seasons in which they suffer high-ankle sprains.
The injuries take much longer than a few weeks to fully recover from. So, it shouldn't be a surprise if Brown looks sluggish for the rest of 2026, which isn't good news for fantasy managers who drafted him in the first and second rounds.
His knee condition is also important to consider. It's something that only gets worse over time, and that combined with his ankle not being 100 percent for the rest of the year could mean he's just not the same player he was in Philadelphia. He's an every-week starter when he returns, but is moving down to WR2 territory.
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Week 5 Player Decisions. Today's focus is on specific players: Romeo Doubs, Mack Hollins, Hunter Henry, DeMario Douglas. These are some of the most common searches for fantasy football lineups in Week 5.
Using The Tool. This is a simple tool but very powerful. The first step is to enter the player names that you want to compare. In the first box, search for the first player name. In the second box, search for the second player name. Compare up to four NFL players at once, and then click the Who To Start? button to see who the recommended starts are based on weekly fantasy football matchups.
Improvements For Who Should I Start? You may have noticed that our 'Who Should I Start?' tool has gotten an overhaul. We've added lots of great features for you to give you as much information as possible to win your fantasy football matchups each week. You'll see NFL player tiles with headshots and bye weeks, stats, projections, strength of schedule, player news, and enhanced search results with data to compare with a slick new interface. We hope you enjoy!
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Popular Week 5 Searches. Curious to see some tough lineup decisions for Week 5 (2026)? Below you will find a list of some popular Who Should I Start? searches that RotoBaller readers are looking at this week. Click any of the links to see the result and recommendation.
Popular Week 5 Searches - Start/Sit Player Comparisons
Below are some popular searches and comparisons from our Who To Start tool for Week 5 for Romeo Doubs, Mack Hollins, Hunter Henry, DeMario Douglas:
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