The 2026 season opened on a bit of a disaster for the New England Patriots and head coach Mike Vrabel. After going up 10-0 on the defending champion Seattle Seahawks, they would fall apart and lose 13-10.
Following the game, there was a chance to second-guess Vrabel. In particular, for how little he chose to play starters in the preseason, instead preferring to get them work in joint practices. That was easy to criticize, in part, because of how rusty the starters ended up looking.
Despite that, following the game, Vrabel made it clear that he didn’t regret the decision at all. Joint practices were sufficient.
“I do,” Mike Vrabel said. “Playing the backups for the Eagles or the Colts for eight plays, I don’t think was going to prepare us for what we saw last night. I thought we handled the environment. I know that the execution was not good enough, but the line of scrimmage penalties, the operation, those things gave us a chance, and some other things didn’t give us a chance.”
In the preseason, Vrabel made it clear that the Patriots had to be more conservative playing starters. After all, they couldn’t afford to suffer injuries due to what he cautioned was a lack of depth.
It’s hard to say if that lack of playing time in the preseason is exactly why the Patriots struggled so much against the Seahawks. However, it’s going to remain a topic of conversation if New England doesn’t turn it around quickly.
New England Patriots QB Drake Maye Criticized Following Loss
One player, above all others, is getting blamed for the loss to the Seahawks. That’s Patriots quarterback Drake Maye.
Maye would throw three interceptions in the fourth quarter. That included one with less than a minute remaining into the endzone when the Patriots were well within field goal range. After the game, Maye would shoulder the blame for those mistakes.
“I just stopped being patient,” Maye said. “I think that’s the big thing. We were really good up to the point where I forced one up the sideline to Romeo. When we were patient and dumping it off, and trying to move the chains, avoided a lot of three-and-outs.”
Perhaps more concerning were reports that Maye is struggling with particular coverages. According to Evan Lazar, that largely included split-safety coverage.
“Maye will keep seeing this blueprint now that opponents are game-planning to take away his deep ball by putting an umbrella over the Patriots offense,” Lazar wrote.
The Patriots Lost A.J. Brown to Injury
If all of that weren’t concerning enough, the Patriots also lost star wide receiver A.J. Brown due to an ankle injury. That came on the first drive of the second half, and New England had almost no answers in the passing game after that.
Brown would undergo extensive testing, including some X-rays. In the end, though, it was determined that there isn’t a fracture, but Brown does have a high-ankle sprain.
It’s now being reported that the sprain could keep him out between four and six weeks. Because of that, there’s also a chance he ends up with a brief stint on the IL. If that’s the case, it would be a massive blow to the Patriots.
“We’ll continue to evaluate, continue to run tests. I don’t know if he’ll be available here going forward for the next week, but we’ll see,” Vrabel said.
After Brown, the Patriots struggled at wide receiver in the opener. So, with about a week and a half to prepare, Vrabel will need to come up with a better plan for Week 2.
Patriots HC Mike Vrabel Defends Preseason Decision Following Bad Seahawks Loss