Not only did the New England Patriots have a new starting quarterback against the Houston Texans, but a new center snapping the football to him.
Ben Brown debuted Sunday afternoon at Gillette Stadium. The 26-year-old hadn’t been on the team until Wednesday night. It was then that his agency, SportsTrust Advisors, announced he had agreed to join the 53-man roster off the practice squad of the Las Vegas Raiders.
A couple practices followed. All 66 offensive snaps were played from there.
“Crazy, for sure,” Brown told reporters during his introductory video conference on Monday. “Obviously very blessed to be here, very excited to be here. Just want to do my best to help this team win and ultimately do my job to the best of my potential. But I’m very excited to be here. It’s been a very crazy past few days, but very blessed to be here.”
In what became a 41-21 loss, Houston defensive ends Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter combined for four sacks and a forced fumble on New England rookie Drake Maye. But the newcomer in No. 77 played through the whistle in the middle of a patchwork offensive line.
No false starts, holding penalties or quarterback pressures arrived along the way as his pass protection earned a 72.3 grade from Pro Football Focus.
“The big thing for me was I didn’t want to go out there and just panic and be perfect,” Brown said. “Obviously we strive for perfection playing in the NFL, but I think the big thing for me was just to play free and to do my best and rely on my teammates and coaches if I had any questions on anything. That’s what I did.”
Prior to his Foxborough debut, Brown stood with eight offensive snaps in the regular season. And those came while aligning at left guard.
The 6-foot-5, 313-pounder’s winding NFL journey began with the Cincinnati Bengals as a rookie free agent in the spring of 2022. It continued with the Seattle Seahawks in the fall of 2023. An additional two stops were made as the calendar turned to 2024.
“I think it’s been one that has had its ups and downs, for sure,” Brown said of his career. “I mean, coming out of college I was undrafted and my first preseason game in Cincinnati I blew my bicep. That was really hard to be able to grind through and to come back to camp in Cincinnati and not make the 53 or the practice squad. And then Seattle picked me up on their practice squad and I was on their 53 for probably six weeks or so, maybe seven, and then I was on their practice squad for a month. And then I wasn’t on a team for the month of December. I was just doing workouts with teams, working out and training.”
Brown finished last campaign on the practice squad of the Arizona Cardinals before signing a futures contract in the AFC West.
“Went through all of camp with Las Vegas and all of OTAs and everything,” he added. “Obviously I was on their practice squad this season until just a few days ago. It’s been a long journey, but I think my faith and my family has really helped me to keep pushing, to keep fighting, so I’m very thankful for that.”
After losing ironman team captain David Andrews to injured reserve, veteran backup Nick Leverett recently served as the starting center for the Patriots. But the March signing did not play against the reigning AFC South champions on Sunday and has since been released.
The job is now in the hands of an SEC product who started 40 consecutive games on the Ole Miss interior line before suffering a bicep injury as a redshirt senior.
“I mean, everyone just told me just to play fast and don’t worry about technique, just make sure we’re all going to the right guys,” Brown said. “That’s what I tried doing. I couldn’t have done any of this by myself. I really appreciate all the help that I’ve gotten from all my coaches and all my teammates.”