AJ Brown recalls ‘critical’ Mike Vrabel moments

New England Patriots

Brown used to write “I hate [Vrabel]” in a notebook during team meetings. Things are different now, he says.

AJ Brown wasn’t Mike Vrabel’s biggest fan during their early days together in Tennessee.

During a recent episode of the “Dudes on Dudes” podcast, Brown told Julian Edelman and Rob Gronkowski that his relationship with Vrabel has evolved over the years. Back then, they weren’t as “comfortable” with each other as they are now, Brown said.

“I always remember this critical moment with [Vrabel]. I’ll give you some inside too. Two stories really quick,” Brown said. “So, [Vrabel] is the type of coach who, he’s going to call on you in the meetings. He’s going to make sure you’re staying engaged and he’s going to go over the keys to victory for the week. You better know them like the back of your hand.”

“I used to write in my notebook -because at the time I didn’t really like [Vrabel] – I didn’t like him, I’ll admit it, he knows that. So, I used to write ‘I hate [Vrabel], I hate [Vrabel], I hate [Vrabel].”

Brown said he was pretending to take notes so that it would look like he was paying attention. During his rookie year, he didn’t understand why Vrabel seemed to be so hard on him.

“At the time, I told [Vrabel], I was like ‘hey I’m humble already’, you don’t have to humble me. But, I didn’t understand what he was trying to push me to be.”

Brown recorded the first of his six 1,000-yard seasons that year in 2019. He caught 52 passes for 1,051 yards and eight touchdowns. The Titans made the playoffs and knocked the Patriots out in the Wild Card Round before losing to the Chiefs in the AFC Championship game.

Brown recalled another instance when the coach caught his attention.

“He showed a clip, I ran like a Bang-8 and I scored. He praised me, so I was kind of feeling good about myself, right? I’m a rookie. A couple of plays later, he shows me another play with the Bang 8 and I get tackled.”

“He’s like ‘what’s the difference between the first play and the second play?’ He was like ‘you’re tired.’ He was like ‘that’s not going to cut it’. That same mentality that you showed on the first play, you should do that all the time. That’s who you are.”

The standard that Vrabel holds his players to stuck with the wide receiver.

“When I say that he holds every single [person] accountable from top to bottom, I don’t care who it is. That’s who he is and it makes the team come together because nobody is bigger than the team, nobody is bigger than the program, so you have to respect it.”

Fast-forward to 2026, and Vrabel is coaching the Patriots who still have room for improvement at the receiver position. Brown is frequently coming up as a potential trade candidate. The Patriots were one of four teams that ESPN used as hypothetical trade destinations for Brown last week. Brown has also mentioned publicly that he grew up a Patriots fan.

He’s still under contract with the Eagles, so it would take some draft capital for the Patriots to get him. That hasn’t stopped the speculation of possible interest from the Patriots one bit.

Khari A. Thompson

Sports Reporter

Khari Thompson covers professional sports for Boston.com. Before joining the team in 2022, Khari covered college football for The Clarion Ledger in Jackson, Miss.