A.J. Brown believed to have suffered high-ankle sprain in loss to Seahawks: Source

Brown is scheduled to undergo additional medical testing on Thursday to determine the severity and establish a timeline for his return. He suffered the injury while being tackled in his debut for the Patriots on Wednesday night, a 13-10 loss to the Seahawks in Seattle.

The looming question for the Patriots may become whether or not to place Brown on injured reserve. If they do, it would free up a roster spot but would mean Brown has to sit out at least four games.

What makes matters more difficult for New England is that two weeks ago, the team traded Kayshon Boutte, in part because his role had diminished behind Brown and free-agent signing Romeo Doubs.

Now with Brown likely out for at least a week, the Patriots will need a few players to step up. For starters, Doubs has to be better than his Patriots debut, when he dropped a wide-open pass that would have gone for a big first down. He finished without a single catch.

New England will also need second-year receiver Kyle Williams to do more. The former third-round pick struggled as a rookie and needs to improve his route running, but he excels at running straight go balls downfield and is good at releasing off the line of scrimmage.

It’s a tough way for Brown’s Patriots tenure to begin. The team gave up a first-round pick to acquire him this offseason in the hope that he’d elevate the offense.

Now the Patriots will have to pick up the pieces from a dud in the opener without their best skill-position player — for at least a little while.