The New England Patriots are 1-2 on the season and have the Carolina Panthers coming into town for a Week 4 collision. While they started preparation for that contest, Jordan Schultz revealed that the Patriots called the Tennessee Titans about CB Jarvis Brownlee, but he was dealt to the New York Jets instead on Tuesday.
Christian Gonzalez returned to practice last week but still didn’t suit up versus the Steelers. It appears he’s close to returning, but in his absence, the Patriots had Alex Austin step in. He has been underwhelming thus far this year and the fact that New England attempted to acquire another depth piece shows how they are looking at Austin.
Patriots CB Alex Austin Looks to Be on Chopping Block
Austin has suited up in all three games with two starts for New England. In those outings, he has eight total tackles and one pass deflection. According to PFF, Austin owns a 39.9 overall grade (152nd among 158 graded corners), 57.8 run defense grade (114th among 158 graded corners), and a 37.2 coverage grade (146th among 158 graded corners). He has a 144.4 passer rating allowed in coverage.
In 12 targets, he has given up nine receptions for 153 yards and one touchdown. The 24-year-old has logged 108 snaps as wide CB, primarily playing in Gonzalez’s spot. While he wasn’t going to be the starter anyway, the Pats clearly thought he could be a solid depth option, but that clearly isn’t the case.
Brownlee was drafted in the fifth round of the 2024 NFL draft by the Titans and has started in 16 games for the last two seasons. This season, he was the starter in two games for Tennessee, logging 17 total tackles and one pass deflection. Per PFF, he had a 59 overall grade (88th among 158 graded corners) and a 61 coverage grade (72nd among 158 graded corners). In addition, he has allowed eight catches for 59 yards.
Brownlee has shown that he could be a nice depth option, and New England was interested in his services. Although they weren’t able to get things across the finish line, Austin appears to be one who could be on the outs. The Pats benched him for Week 3, and looking for his potential replacement paints the picture that Austin may be on the chopping block for this team.
