Tennessee Titans wide receiver A.J. Brown made his return to the field after a three-game absence and wasted no time reminding everyone just how important he is to the team.
Brown had to shake off some rust with a few drops, but he ultimately dominated the San Francisco 49ers in his team’s 20-17 win.
The superstar wide receiver finished with a career-high 11 receptions for 145 yards and a touchdown, and he came through with several clutch catches along the way, including a 42-yard grab that set up his score.
Following the game, Brown said it was very difficult to watch the team and not be able to help out, and said he was “very grateful” just to be back.
“Very grateful, I feel very grateful just to play football again,” Brown said. “I tweeted I missed playing football because I did. I was on IR watching the games, tough losses. It was tough to watch. I know it was tough for our guys to be in those games, losing those big games. It was tough for me to watch them. I really feel like this is my purpose of living, you know, so it was tough.”
One of the concerns for any player returning from injury is conditioning, something Brown says he battled. However, he was able to overcome the issue with plenty of hard work in the days leading up to the game.
“It was tough, it was tough, but I wasn’t able to get my heart rate up for like two weeks,” Brown admitted. “So, I couldn’t do nothing. So, when I got back, you know I was dying. I was doing a lot of conditioning even doing conditioning on my own. So out there between periods, I was running and trying to get as much as I can to build that. It was tough, they worked the hell out of me.”
Brown’s biggest contributions of Week 16 came in the second half, where he caught his touchdown pass on a drive that saw him total 72 of his 145 yards. The touchdown gave the Titans their first lead of the game after they fell behind 10-0 in the first half.
“Our motto at halftime was just make a play and then make another and then make another one. That is what it came down to, just making plays. Do your job and let the chips fall where they may.”
During the game, Brown says he was being urged on by his teammates to keep carrying them, something he no doubt did in the winning effort.
“They kept saying ‘welcome back’ in the middle of the game,” Brown revealed. “‘Keep going, keep going. Keep carrying us, keep carrying us.’ So, like I said for me none of that was on my mind. I was just having fun. Everybody was saying ‘calm down, settle down.’ I was enjoying myself, not trying to get too carried away.”
Eight of the Ole Miss product’s 11 catches came on third downs, and that total is the most by any player in the last 40 years, and he accounted for 69 percent of Tennessee’s receiving yards, the highest percentage for any player this season. according to ESPN Stats & Info.
Brown calls third downs “the money down.”
“That’s the money down, that’s the money down,” Brown said. “You’ve got to convert, keep these drives going. It’s a tough league. That’s a tough defense. They welcomed me back, very physical, you know especially the first half.”
Brown did a little bit of everything in Thursday’s win, as he also threw an ill-advised pass (looking at you, Todd Downing) that was nearly picked off. Despite the result, Brown thought it was a good throw.
“Yeah, let’s talk about that pass,” Brown said. “I thought it was a pretty good pass. But that’s why we are in the NFL. They pay those guys to make plays and the big bucks.”
Hopefully Downing will avoid such plays in the future and allow his superstar wide receiver to do what he does best: catch the football.
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