Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, MA, hosted a joint practice session on Tuesday morning between the Indianapolis Colts and the New England Patriots. Many were excited for the highly-anticipated faceoff between the Patriots’ new addition, 3x Pro Bowler WR AJ Brown, and Colts’ 2x First Team All-Pro cornerback Sauce Gardner. So when their first faceoff in the practice session gave fans a moment to remember, it was bound to go viral on social media. 

CLNS Media shared a video of the 1v1 rep online with the caption “A.J. Brown just DUSTED Sauce Gardner in 1v1s Patriots fans in attendance LOVE IT.” However, while one side of the NFL fanbase would relish the viral clip, the Colts and Sauce Gardner himself had something to say about it.

“All this from a 1on1 rep? & a 8 yard sit route at that? its a reason that’s the only one y’all saw,” Sauce Gardner reacted on X.

On the very first rep of 1-on-1 drills between WRs and DBs, Brown lined up on the outside against Gardner. Brown ran an 8-yard sit/comeback route. But just as Brown turned around to face the QB, Sauce Gardner lost his footing on the Gillette Stadium turf and slipped, giving Brown wide-open separation from the CB. Patriots QB Drake Maye completed a simple pass right into Brown’s chest, which sent the Patriots fans in the crowd into a frenzy. 

Brown, 29, has crossed 1,000 receiving yards in 6 of his 7 seasons in the NFL, and made the 2nd-Team All-Pro on 3 occasions. The route-running in joint practice today was crisp and proves that the Super Bowl LX runner-ups have improved their WR room by acquiring AJ Brown from the Philadelphia Eagles.

On the other hand, the Colts acquired Sauce Gardner in November 2025 in one of the biggest in-season trades in modern NFL history. The Colts traded the 2026 and 2027 first-round draft picks, as well as WR Adonai Mitchell (Colts’ 2024 2nd-round pick), to the NY Jets after veteran CB Charvarius Ward Sr. was placed on the Colts’ injured reserve with a severe concussion in October 2025.   

Prior to the trade, Next Gen Stats logged Gardner as having a forced tight-window(less than one yard of separation) rate of 52% (highest in the NFL among players targeted 20+ times) and allowing no more than 2 receptions to any individual WR per game, and also held the opposing QBs to a passer rating of just 71.4 and allowed a 50.3% pass completion rate per PFF.

To be under public scrutiny the way he is after the 1-on-1 incident, especially against old divisional rivals, the Patriots, isn’t ideal for Sauce Gardner, who is going into his first full season with the Colts in 2026.

However, one can hardly blame the CB in such circumstances. In a 1-on-1 drill, as a CB, you are going up against a WR who has a wide open field in front of him, and a QB without a pass rush pressuring him. The CBs themselves are without safeties behind them covering deep routes and providing assistance. Hence, the drill is already tipping slightly in favor of the WRs.

Despite all this, Sauce Gardner will be determined to get his revenge on AJ Brown in the upcoming preseason game vs the Patriots on August 14, 2026 at Gillette Stadium. Fans on either side would be hoping that their 1-on-1 face-off in the joint training session was just a trailer of what’s to come on Thursday.