Ben Brown Exits Patriots' Preseason Opener as Interior Depth Takes a Hit
New England's fill-in center left in the first quarter after a sack. He signed a two-year, $5 million extension in December — here's why fantasy managers should barely blink.
Line shuffle bears monitoring, but no fantasy asset moves off this.
- Brown left with 3:00 left in the first quarter
- Signed 2-year, $5M extension in December
- Started 4 games, ~25% of snaps in 2025
- Rookie Jacob Rizy took over at center
- Injury came on a 2-yard sack vs DeVito
Ben Brown didn't make it out of the first quarter. The Patriots center went down after a 2-yard sack of quarterback Tommy DeVito and stayed on the turf, then needed help getting to the blue medical tent before eventually walking back to the locker room for further evaluation. He left with three minutes remaining in the opening period of New England's preseason opener against the Colts.
For context, Brown, 28, isn't a household name — and that's exactly the point. He arrived in Foxborough during the 2024 season, spent last year as the team's fourth interior lineman starting four games at roughly a quarter of the offensive snaps, and locked in a two-year, $5 million extension in December. That deal made him the designated next man up on an interior line.
He got the nod at center Thursday only because the projected 2026 starting trio — Alijah Vera-Tucker, Jared Wilson and Mike Onwenu — all sat. So this wasn't a starter going down. It was the swing man logging preseason reps, flanked by guards Andrew Rupcich and James Hudson, when the injury hit. Undrafted rookie Jacob Rizy stepped in to finish the drive.
Why Your Roster Doesn't Care
Let's be blunt: interior offensive line depth doesn't move fantasy needles. Brown isn't rostered anywhere, and even the players he protects aren't the concern here. The only skill-position name in this snapshot is DeVito, who posted a modest 14 PPR points across three games in the 2024 season (257 pass yards, 32 rush yards, no touchdowns). He's a camp arm, not a lineup option.
If there's any downstream ripple, it's monitoring whether the starting interior stays healthy into Week 1. A shaky line can dent a quarterback's fantasy ceiling and inflate sack numbers, but that's a September problem, not an August one — and the front three weren't even playing tonight.
The move for fantasy managers is simple: file this under injuries to track, not injuries to act on. There's nobody to add, nobody to drop, and no lineup decision riding on Brown's status. Keep an eye on the wire only if the Patriots' front-three starters start dropping. Until then, this is a preseason footnote.
