The A.J. Brown era with the New England Patriots has officially begun.
After a long wait, the Patriots finally pulled off the blockbuster trade with the Philadelphia Eagles to acquire Brown on Monday — and on Tuesday he made his practice debut.
And, we now have our first look at what the connection between Brown and ascending star quarterback Drake Maye will look like thanks to video out of practice.
Spoiler alert: It’s beautiful.
Love to see Brown pulling in the grab with one hand for good measure.
Hopefully that is the first of many, many connections between Maye and Brown.
Why Patriots acquired A.J. Brown
The Pats released Stefon Diggs earlier this offseason after the two sides couldn’t agree to a reworked deal to prevent Diggs’ cap hit from ballooning.
That was problematic because Diggs was the No. 1 target for Drake Maye last season, leading to a 1,000-yard campaign for the veteran.
MORE: Packers beat writer offers update on Josh Sweat trade rumor
New England never adequately replaced Diggs. Instead, they added a solid No. 2 wide receiver in Romeo Doubs, leaving the No. 1 spot vacant.
A six-time 1,000-yard receiver and three-time Pro Bowler, A.J. Brown shores up that spot for New England, and he should be an upgrade over the aging Diggs.
A.J. Brown’s soured relationship with Jalen Hurts
When A.J. Brown arrived in Philadelphia, he was best friends with quarterback Jalen Hurts.
However, over the years, things soured between the two, Brown said after the trade to the Patriots, and they are no longer as close as they used to be.
“Not as close as we once were,” Brown said to Maria Taylor. “I believe that’s fine. It’s like, there’s no bad blood. There’s actually still a lot of love, I love him to death. I want him to succeed and accomplish all the things that he wants to accomplish.”
When it comes to what led to their downfall, Brown said “nothing happened.”
MORE: Bears leaving Chicago appears imminent, 2 cities emerge as new homes
“Nothing happened. People just grow apart. Nothing happened between me and him, or our families, our wives, anything. Nothing like that ever happened. But life happens and you just look up sometimes and you find yourself drifting away. And that’s fine. And I think both parties accepted that,” he said.
The overwhelming belief is that the struggles on offense that the Eagles experienced, which were blamed on Hurts and led to Brown seeing less production, at least partly played a role.
Now, Brown gets a clean slate with Maye and the Patriots can only hope things don’t end the same way for Brown and Maye as they did for Brown and Hurts.