Mina Kimes: AJ Brown and Romeo Doubs Additions Could Unlock Patriots’ Run Game

The Patriots didn’t just upgrade their receiver room this offseason. According to ESPN’s Mina Kimes, they may have fixed their running game in the process.

New England acquired A.J. Brown from the Philadelphia Eagles in a June trade and signed Romeo Doubs away from the Green Bay Packers in free agency, reshaping the pass-catching corps around quarterback Drake Maye. Brown is already in the headlines at training camp, where he dislocated his thumb during a padded practice, popped it back into place and finished the session without missing a rep. Head coach Mike Vrabel brushed off the injury, comparing it to the bumps and bruises linemen absorb every day.

Brown is coming off a down year by his standards. He finished 2025 with 1,003 yards and seven touchdowns on 78 catches, a career-low 12.9 yards per reception, though it still marked his fourth straight 1,000-yard season. Doubs, meanwhile, is stepping into the No. 1 role for the first time in his career after four seasons sharing targets in Green Bay, where he topped out at 724 receiving yards.

Kimes argues the pairing does more than fix the passing attack — it should open running lanes New England didn’t have last season.

“The revamping of the wide receiver group, not just Brown, the addition of Romeo Doubs, which I think is one of the most slept-on additions to any team, is not only going to keep this passing attack operating at a high level like it did last year, it’s going to open up opportunities on the ground,” Kimes said.

She pointed to New England’s lack of balance a season ago as the root issue.

“As good as the Patriots offense was last season, they were not balanced. Very good throwing the ball, below average when running. I think that really hurt them in the postseason.”

NFL on ESPN posted the segment on X on August 4, with Kimes breaking down what Brown and Doubs bring to the offense:

“I think it’s gonna open up opportunities on the ground.”@minakimes on what A.J. Brown and Romeo Doubs will bring to the Patriots' offense 🏈 pic.twitter.com/rBeyUXwUbH

— NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) August 4, 2026

The numbers back up her framing. New England ran for 128.9 yards per game in 2025, sixth-best in the league, but that average dipped to 117.8 yards per game in the playoffs. The Patriots’ season ended with a 29-13 loss to the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl LX, a game in which Maye was sacked six times and the offense never found a rhythm.

Why Two Receivers Could Help the Run

Kimes’ logic centers on defensive math. Stacking the box to stop the run gets harder when an offense has two receivers capable of winning one-on-one. That should push more defenses into two-high safety shells, thinning out the numbers up front for backs like TreVeyon Henderson and Rhamondre Stevenson.

“Now they’ve got A.J. Brown and Doubs on the field, you’re gonna see a lot more split safety coverage, so I think there’s gonna be opportunities on the ground for those backs,” Kimes said.

Henderson had a standout rookie season, including a franchise-record 9.8-yard rushing average in one game and four touchdown runs of 50-plus yards. A lighter box could mean more room for him to work behind an offensive line that already has to answer for two first-round picks up front.

None of it solves everything. Brown’s thumb is a minor scare for now, but training camp battles like his ongoing one-on-ones with cornerback Christian Gonzalez are exactly the moments that can turn a small issue into a bigger one. And projections built on scheme theory don’t always survive contact with real defenses.

The Patriots open their preseason slate against the Indianapolis Colts on August 13, the first live look at how the new-look passing game — and, if Kimes is right, the running game behind it — actually functions.

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