Celtics’ Jaylen Brown Ribs Jayson Tatum Amid Injury Recovery

Jaylen Brown will take a few precautions when he returns to game action for the Boston Celtics.

One will be sporting a protective face mask, a practical measure for Brown after he suffered a facial fracture earlier this month. Another tactic will be steering clear of the Celtics teammate who took him out of the lineup.

Not actually, but Brown on Saturday joked about not going near Jayson Tatum as he works his way back from injury. Tatum, of course, was the one who accidentally injured Brown with an inadvertent elbow back on Feb. 8 at TD Garden.

“I’m feeling good,” Brown told reporters in Utah before the NBA’s All-Star Saturday Night. “I’m feeling a lot better. I think I should be fine as long as I stay away from Jayson Tatum.”

Tatum offered to smooth things over with his All-Star running mate by paying for the aforementioned mask as well as a new car for Brown. Tatum probably was joking about the latter portion of the deal, but Brown gladly will accept the wheels if he was being serious.

The MVP candidate is set to take the Vivint Arena floor with the rest of the league’s biggest names Sunday night for the NBA All-Star Game. Brown won’t be able to play in the star-studded showdown, but his participation in Saturday’s practice suggests he’s nearing a return.