How Bill O’Brien Suggestion Brought Surprise Week 3 Hero To Patriots

Had it not been for offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien, the Patriots’ lone touchdown-scorer in their first win of the season might never have landed in New England.

Tight end Pharaoh Brown, who galloped for a 58-yard score in last week’s 15-10 victory over the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium, played under O’Brien and position coach Bill O’Brien with the Houston Texans. They didn’t overlap for long, as the Texans signed Brown in September 2020 and fired O’Brien a month later.

But the Patriots OC liked what he saw from Brown during their brief time together. Three years later, that led to an opportunity for the 29-year-old.

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When the Indianapolis Colts released Brown last month during final roster cuts, O’Brien had an idea.

“He was with myself and Will Lawing in Houston,” O’Brien said Tuesday in a video conference. “Right away, when we had him in Houston, he brought a good element of competitiveness and toughness and athleticism and size and strength to that position. We talked to (Patriots director of player personnel) Matt Groh and Bill (Belichick) about him (after) the Colts released him at the end of training camp.

“We felt like he was a guy that was at least worth a workout to take a look at and see what Bill thought and see what Matt thought. We all thought he would be a good addition, and he has been a good addition.”

Brown signed to the Patriots’ practice squad on Aug. 30, then was promoted to the 53-man roster five days later. He saw action in each of New England’s first three games, logging a season-high 25 snaps in Sunday’s win over New York.

With Hunter Henry and Mike Gesicki both receiving-focused tight ends, the Patriots mostly have used Brown as an extra blocker in the run game, including a handful of reps at fullback against the Jets. But he also can contribute as a pass-catcher. Brown outran a group of Jets defenders on his big-play touchdown and dropped another with a stiff-arm on a subsequent 13-yard reception, finishing with a team- and career-high 71 receiving yards.

Brown said his prior experience playing for O’Brien made for an easier integration, though the verbiage of the Patriots’ offense is “totally different” from Houston’s.

“It gave me some familiarity to make the curve a little bit shorter,” he said after the Jets game. “But I’m still learning as I go.”

The 58-yard catch-and-run was the Patriots’ longest offensive play in nearly two years and Brown’s first trip to the end zone since 2020.

“He’s a tough guy,” O’Brien said. “He cares about the team. He’ll do whatever. He was on the punt team on Sunday. He’s in our 13 (three-tight end) personnel package, 12 personnel packages and some 11 personnel packages.

“So he’s doing a lot of different things for us, and that’s the type of guy he is, so it’s good to have him on the team.”