Diggs Inherits the Job Brown Was Brought Here to Do

Two pieces on this already, and the situation hasn't changed: A.J. Brown is on injured reserve with a high ankle sprain, and Stefon Diggs is the unquestioned top option in a receiving room that is thinner than New England planned for when it acquired Brown this offseason. The Patriots brought Brown in specifically to give Drake Maye a true alpha target — someone to take the coverage burden off everyone else. That plan is shelved for now.

Diggs led the receiving corps last season with 1,123 yards and has been here before, carrying a passing game through a stretch when the depth around him was untested. The names behind him on the depth chart — Romeo Doubs, DeMario Douglas, Kobe Prentice — are functional pieces, not difference-makers. Efton Chism III is currently out. The corps can work, but it requires Maye to be precise and the run game to stay honest, because there is no margin for a bad week from Diggs right now.

Hunter Henry is the safety valve. He caught 69 of 102 targets for 880 yards and 8 touchdowns last season, and in a short-handed passing game he figures to see even more of Maye's attention. The tight end position may quietly become the most important spot on the offense until Brown returns.