For the first and likely only time this season, wide receiver A.J. Brown lined up against his former teammates when the New England Patriots held a joint practice with the Philadelphia Eagles. And to his credit, Brown showed exactly why the Patriots’ decision to acquire him was a good one. On the first rep of the WR-CB one-on-ones during the practice, Drake Maye threw a deep pass to Brown, who was matched up against his former teammate Quinyon Mitchell.

Brown gained a step on Mitchell and ran deep down the left sideline, with the CB appearing to tug at him as Brown created separation. Maye then dropped a well-placed pass over Brown’s outside shoulder, as the receiver got his hands on the ball. However, Mitchell recovered in time to swipe it away and prevent the completion. Brown, meanwhile, showed no aggression and remained calm.

That led analyst Manti Te’o to believe Brown was locked in with the Patriots this season.

“Coach got this,” said Manti on Good Morning Football. “I don’t have to do anything or be anything that doesn’t help the team. That does not help my football team. And now he’s dialed in. He’s calm. He’s more mature. He seems like somebody that, when needed and when called upon, can be lethal. And that is what really stood out to me was on that first play of one-on-one’s going against Quinyon Mitchell.

“Take him over the top. What a perfect pass it was. He dropped it. He didn’t jump up, slap his helmet, get mad, or riled up. He just got back up, ran back to the sideline, and got back for the next rep. I love what I saw out of AJ Brown so far. If he keeps it up, he will be a lethal weapon for the New England Patriots.”

Brown joined the Patriots after spending four seasons with the Eagles, where he made two Super Bowl appearances and won one. In that stretch, the veteran wide receiver recorded over 5,000 receiving yards and 32 touchdowns. Despite all the accolades he won, Brown’s exit from the team was unceremonious. The reason behind this was his attitude towards his teammates and coaches.

Take the Week 2 matchup of the 2023 season against the Minnesota Vikings, for example. Brown and quarterback Jalen Hurts had an animated confrontation on the sideline that became a major storyline.

Head coach Nick Sirianni intervened, and Brown later acknowledged that his emotions were high enough that he left the stadium without speaking to reporters because he needed to clear his mind.

Then, earlier this year, the Eagles lost the Wild Card round matchup 23-19 to the San Francisco 49ers. During the second quarter of the matchup, however, Brown had two passes intended for him that went incomplete.

The receiver was later seen in a heated sideline confrontation with Coach Sirianni. After an incomplete pass, Sirianni went toward Brown, the two got in each other’s faces, and the receiver was subsequently seen yelling toward the coach. Even recently, he had an exchange with the Patriots’ CB Christian Gonzalez during one of camp’s practices.

For A.J. Brown, that surely looked like competitiveness. But it wouldn’t be wrong to say that his aggressiveness became a major storyline during his Eagles tenure. At the same time, Brown was also frustrated with the team throughout the 2025 season, which eventually resulted in his trade to the Patriots.

However, after watching him during the joint practice against the Eagles, at least Manti Te’o believes those aggressive days are now behind Brown. The wide receiver appears calmer, which, according to Te’o, makes him an even more lethal weapon for the Patriots.