Brown served as starting left guard in Thursday’s joint practice with the Vikings.

Despite having started 10 games for the New England Patriots last season, Ben Brown seemingly found himself buried on the depth chart entering training camp.

The first few practices of the summer did little to change his outlook, but with the introduction of full pads also came a re-introduction to the 27-year-old.

By the second week of camp, Brown had moved into the No. 2 center spot behind Garrett Bradbury. The offseason addition missing time due to an undisclosed ailment then allowed Brown to return to the starting lineup, albeit only briefly. On Thursday, for the Patriots’ second joint practice with the Minnesota Vikings, he was back with the first unit.

The difference was that he played a new role: Brown was the first-team left guard, taking over a spot previously occupied by rookie Jared Wilson. With the youngster nursing an injury of his own, Brown spent the entire day with the starting group.

It was yet more proof of Brown increasingly factoring into the Patriots’ mix up front.

“Ben has been good ever since last year,” said right guard Mike Onwenu after Thursday’s practice. “He’s been a good player. Plug-and-play, pretty much. He’s been good at center. I think guard is pretty new for him, but he’s still getting those reps and working through it.”

A rookie free agent in 2022, Brown spent time in Cincinnati, Seattle, Arizona and Las Vegas before coming to New England last October. Joining the Patriots’ active roster off the Raiders’ practice squad, he made his starting debut just three days after his arrival.

Brown went on to start a total of 10 games in his first season with the club, playing all possible 667 offensive snaps along the way before being sent to injured reserve with a concussion. He was re-signed by the Patriots as an exclusive rights free agent in March.

Since then, he steadily worked his way into the rotation up front. While it remains to be seen whether or not he will realistically push either Wilson or Bradbury for a starting role, he currently seems like a fairly safe bet to make the 53-man roster as a top backup at both guard and center.

“We all know the positions; him as a center, he knows everything across the line,” said Onwenu. “It’s good for him to get those reps.”