Patriots' Trent Brown: Working With Pro Bowl OLs; Rededicated?

New England Patriots offensive tackle Trent Brown is spending his summer vacation hard at work, in hopes of leaving last season’s dismal showing behind him.

FOXBORO — Despite the lingering questions surrounding his engagement to the gridiron, New England Patriots offensive tackle Trent Brown appears to already be locked in to improving his performance for 2023. 

While much of the offseason attention surrounding the Pats has been focused on their new offensive coordinator, the hopeful resurgence of their starting quarterback and potential additions to their corps of receivers, New England’s ability to field a capable offensive line may be the most important key to their success.

To do so, they will need the presence of a motivated Brown at starting left tackle.

Fortunately for the Patriots, Brown is seemingly using his time prior to the start of training camp to train with some pretty impressive company who know the tackle position quite well. 

Trent Brown missed OTAs and was briefly present for a minicamp practice, but looks like he’s putting work in over the break

Seems to be training with former center and 5x Pro Bowler Andre Gurode, Dolphins LT and 4x Pro Bowler Terron Armstead, and Jags OT Cam Robinson pic.twitter.com/z9J0UfY5Il

— Taylor Kyles (@tkyles39) July 11, 2023

Brown, 30, is entering the upcoming NFL season on the heels of a disappointing showing in 2022. The eight-year veteran saw a sharp decline in production following his move from the right to the left side last season. Brown committed a team-high 13 penalties [six holding penalties, five false starts] and was charged with allowing eight sacks, per Pro Football Focus.

The 6-8, 370-pound lineman saw the field sparingly during the team’s offseason workout program. Brown did not participate in voluntary organized team activities, while missing Day 1 of mandatory minicamp due to reported travel restrictions stemming from inclement weather. Though he was present for the second and final day of team practices, he spent nearly the entirety of the day doing conditioning work after partaking in team warmups. As such, some have questioned whether Brown’s absence was related to a reduced commitment in the wake of a subpar 2022 season. 

Still, it is imperative that New England re-engage the eight-year veteran this season. Legendary line coach Dante Scarnecchia weighed in on Brown’s importance to the Pats during a recent appearance on WEEI’s The Greg Hill Show. The soon-to-be Patriots Hall of Famer maintained that Brown must return to form to reverse the ill fortune suffered by the o-line last season. Under the direction of former coach Matt Patricia, the unit was routinely plagued by injury and inconsistent play. As a result, the offense regressed to a subpar level in both pass protection and run blocking.

“I like the kid. I think he’s a tremendous talent, and I would love to see him be there and all in and be able to do the things that he can do to help the team,” Scarnecchia implored. “You’ve got to get him on board, and that’s what’s important at this point.”

Brown, along with the rest of his Patriots teammates, will next take the field on July 26, when New England holds its first training camp practice on the fields adjacent to Gillette Stadium. 

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