The final preseason game of the season for the New England Patriots was a rough watch. 38 players didn’t suit up, and head coach Mike Vrabel made it clear that it was a decision to protect his starters before the start of the season.
The backups that did play for the Patriots played poorly. That included the team’s defensive depth, with defensive back Kindle Vildor having a bad game. Meanwhile, rookie Gabe Jacas found himself getting called out by fans online.
If there was one takeaway from the 37-13 loss to the Cleveland Browns, it’s that the Patriots need to stay healthy. Because head coach Mike Vrabel can’t trust his backups.
New England Patriots HC Mike Vrabel on Week 1 for a Pair of Key Players
In the wake of the preseason, the New England Patriots are hoping to get as healthy as possible for the regular season. That means linebacker Harold Landry and special teams specialist Brenden Schooler need to get healthy for Week 1.
Mike Vrabel touched on both of those players following Thursday’s game. For now, it remains a wait-and-see type of situation, but roster cuts are coming quickly and whether or not they’re activated is going to have a major impact on those decisions.
“I think we’ll just continue to see when we get back,” Vrabel said. “Brenden Schooler and Harold [Landry] both stayed back, and they have to be able to pass certain things because once you take them off [the lists], that’s kind of what it is. And so, we just want to be very careful and smart with them and not force them into anything. But on the same note, if they can do and relatively perform where we expect them to and where they expect themselves to, that could be a possibility that we could be able to bring those guys off.”
In 2025, Landry was limited all season long for the Patriots. That’s led to him working hard to get back to full strength this offseason, but the Patriots have still had him on the PUP List since July 21st over his knee.
Meanwhile, Schooler is on the NFI, or Non-Football Injury/Illness List. He’s been on it since July 24th, missing out on Training Camp.
Between the two of them, Landry is going to be largely seen as the player who the Patriots need back the most. The hope was to pair him with Dre’Mont Jones and hopefully improve the team’s pass rush, but if he isn’t activated by cutdowns on August 30th, he’ll miss at least four games. The Patriots have already seen that Gabe Jacas is struggling in preseason games. So, they don’t want to be thin there.
Mike Vrabel Has Shared Concern About the Patriots’ Depth
Heading into the final preseason game, Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel found himself making headlines. In particular, for what was perceived as a shot at the front office.
“I do not think we have a very deep team,” Vrabel said.
Those comments, obviously got a lot of attention. Some even thought it was a kind of shot at the front office. However, those comments also got people thinking about whether or not they were true. After watching the final preseason game, it seems like there’s something to what Vrabel was saying.
“Well, I think that when you look at how you want to be constructed, we have to continue to draft very well,” Vrabel said. “We have to continue to develop those late-round picks, the guys that we can find that can be interior offensive linemen, that can be special teams linebackers, which is what we’re hoping when you look at Nam[di Obiazor] and Khalil [Jacobs]. Drafted some edge guys that you can develop and that maybe haven’t played necessarily this 3-4 defense in the past but that you’re developing.”
Patriots Injury Update: Mike Vrabel on Harold Landry, Brenden Schooler in Week 1