Trent Brown misses Wednesday's Patriots practice with an illness

FOXBORO -- When Bill Belichick took the podium inside Gillette Stadium for his Wednesday morning chat with reporters, he expected left tackle Trent Brown to be on the practice field a few hours later.

"Yeah, I don't think he's on the injury report," Belichick told reporters when asked if the left tackle would be partaking in practice.

But when the team actually hit the field for the first practice of Week 18, Brown was nowhere to be found. It turns out the left tackle is battling an illness, which kept him from the session.

His absence did raise some eyebrows before the release of the team's injury report. He was absent on Wednesday after being a healthy scratch last Sunday against the Bills, when he didn't even accompany the team for the trip to Buffalo.

We'll see if he's able to suit up for Sunday's regular-season finale against the Jets at Gillette Stadium. If not, Brown has almost certainly played his last snap for the Patriots. 

The blind-side protector was one of the team's best offensive players for most of the season, but hasn't been as invested in recent weeks. The Boston Herald's Doug Kyed reported ahead of Sunday's loss to the Bills that New England was struggling to keep the 30-year-old engaged, and The Boston Sports Journal's Mike Giardi followed that up after the game with a report that some of Brown's teammates believed he could have suited up for some of the games that he missed earlier in the season due to injury.

Brown will be a free agent at the end of the season.

In addition to Brown, corner Myles Bryant missed practice -- also with an illness. Those were the only two players who did not participate on Wednesday.

Jabrill Peppers and Hunter Henry, both of whom have missed the last two weeks, were limited at practice. Ten players in total were limited for the session:

DL Christian Barmore, Knee
TE Pharaoh Brown, Ribs
TE Hunter Henry, Knee
LB Anfernee Jennings, Knee
CB Jonathan Jones, Knee
WR DeVante Parker, Ribs
S Jabrill Peppers, Hamstring
SpT Matthew Slater, Hamstring
LB Jahlani Tavai, Tooth
CB Shaun Wade, Hip  

Belichick said ahead of the session that it would be on the lighter side, much like last week's Wednesday practice.

"We've got a few guys banged up here," he said.