Raiders-Patriots Week 15 preview: The return of Trent Brown

There will be many reunions this week as the Las Vegas Raiders host the New England Patriots on Sunday at Allegiant Stadium.

Of course, new Las Vegas general manager Dave Ziegler and head coach Josh McDaniels came from New England. Thus, they brought several people to Las Vegas within the organization from New England, highlighted, of course, by many assistant coaches and players. So, it’s a natural storyline this week as the Raiders try to stay alive in AFC playoff contention.

Not all of the reunions, however, will be on the Raiders’ side. The Patriots too have some former Raiders, including tackle Trent Brown. He will return to Allegiant Stadium (kickoff is 1:05 p.m. PT Sunday) as one of the most polarizing players on the Raiders in recent memory.

The Raiders made waves in 2019 when they gave Brown a four-year, $66 million deal. At the time, it was the richest contract ever given to an offensive lineman in league history.

Brown was coming off of a strong year in which he helped the Patriots win the Super Bowl. Yet, he came to the Raiders with a reputation as being an inconsistent player, who had great talent with massive size.

His time with the Raiders with a bit rocky. He was good when he played, but he was often unavailable with multiple and lingering injuries and he frustrated then-coach Jon Gruden and many in the fan base. Brown ended up playing just 16 of a possible 32 games with the Silver and Black, including just five games in 2020.

He was traded back to the Patriots in 2021. Brown’s injury issues continued last year in New England as he missed eight of 17 games. Yet, he has been healthy this season, missing just one game thus far.

Now, he will be in charge of stopping the Raiders’ pass-rush, which has been strong in the past three games. So, this is another ‘reunion” storyline we need to keep an eye on this week.