New England Patriots fans received bad news Thursday, as it was reported that wide receiver A.J. Brown hasn’t been practicing this week. The receiver had a knee injury flare-up. He was already dealing with an ankle injury, and he’s now considered doubtful for Sunday’s game with the Miami Dolphins.

Brown moved to the Patriots this season from the Philadelphia Eagles in a trade that saw New England send a 2028 first-round pick to the NFC franchise.

Fans reacted on X, with almost everyone agreeing it had been a poor trade for New England.

“2028 first for nothing. Been fun New England. Birds won here at least,” one fan wrote.

Josh McDaniels on A.J. Brown’s integration with New England

While the news that A.J. Brown wasn’t practicing this week came Thursday, earlier in the day offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels spoke with the press and all but confirmed that the team was treading carefully with the wide receiver’s health.

“He’s played eight quarters in almost two months and had four practices, I think. I’m certainly in the mode of ‘this is a process of building into our best football,’ We’ve seen that with pretty much every player that’s come here,” he said.

“There’s things we can work on to do better, and certainly his health is going to be a big part of that. So, they tell us he can do A, B and C, we’ll do A, B and C. If there’s some element of thing we need to wait on, we’ll do it. I love his attitude and approach; he’s been here working his tail off to try to put himself in a great position to help our team.”

New England (4-3) visits the Miami Dolphins (1-5) on Sunday.