After missing an extended amount of time this offseason, the New England Patriots got their first look at rookie edge rusher Gabe Jacas on the field during last Thursday’s preseason game. It was underwhelming, though, and Jacas finished with just one tackle.
Immediately after the game, Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel would call out Jacas, and he continued to do that during his press conference on Monday. At the same time, he did acknowledge that Jacas is still improving.
“It needs to be better,” Vrabel said. “It was better whenever we practiced, Saturday, I guess, than it was in the game. We pointed some things out to him in the game.”
The good news is that Jacas is making those corrections in practice. He’s being coachable, but it will still need to translate on the field during the next couple of preseason games.
“I think it was cool for him to make those corrections. Look at some of the body positions that we feel like he should be in and he was really conscious of those and I saw those translating in just a short amount of time from the meeting after the game to Saturday’s practice,” Vrabel said.
New England Patriots Rookie Gabe Jacas Reacted to Being Called Out
GettyNew England Patriots draft pick Gabe Jacas
There was a simple concern that Mike Vrabel had about Gabe Jacas in the Patriots preseason opener. He was getting blocked.
Vrabel called Jacas out directly following the game, and it seems like Jacas responded. He would address those concerns in the immediate aftermath of the game, explaining that Vrabel is demanding a lot and that’s a challenge he wants to respond to.
“He was like, ‘I’m tired of seeing you get blocked.’ So I was like, ‘[Expletive], I’m not gonna get blocked.’ So, that’s what I did. Vrabel demands the best out of his players,” Jacas said.
The Patriots certainly didn’t draft Jacas in the second round to take up blocks. They drafted him to develop into an excellent pass rusher on the edge. That’s something they need, and has been widely viewed as the major weakness on their defense going into 2026.
Patriots, Jacas Given Major Warning on Knee Injury
GettyFormer Illinois edge rusher Gabe Jacas.
A major reason for the holdup in getting Jacas to sign his rookie contract and work with the Patriots is a knee issue that came up shortly after he was drafted and needed to get cleaned up. Now, Dr. David Chao, who was previously the head physician for the Los Angeles Chargers, shared a major warning about a degenerative knee issue.
“Yes, it’s a big deal,” Dr. David Chao said. “If you said a kid has a large osteochondral lesion, I would be downgrading his draft grade score, and sight unseen, warning general managers that this guy might not have a long NFL career.”
Had the knee issue been widely known, Jacas likely would have slipped in the draft. That doesn’t mean he won’t succeed in the NFL. Others have succeeded with similar issues. It’s just that the chance for recurring injuries is always going to hang over him.
“It’s not a ‘don’t touch,’ but it’s a ‘stop and consider.’ If you took an over-under on him, it would be a victory if he made it to a second contract,” Chao said.
Patriots HC Mike Vrabel Calls Out Rookie Gabe Jacas, ‘Needs to be Better’