FOXBOROUGH -After struggling defensively through the first two weeks of the season, the Patriots got a significant uptick in performance from that unit in Sunday's loss to the Steelers.
It wasn't perfect - they surrendered touchdowns on the first two drives of the game and were 0-for-3 in red zone stops. But of Pittsburgh's final six drives (not counting the kneels down at the end of the 1st half and game), the Zak Kuhr-led unit forced four punts, allowed just four first downs, and 85 yards in total offense.
Kuhr is not the defensive coordinator. He has been filling in for Terrell Williams, who, after the Raiders game, had to step away for health reasons unrelated to the issue(s) that kept him sidelined a majority of the spring. Will he be back this week?
"We'll kind of see where things are here going forward in the next couple of days," Mike Vrabel said when asked this morning. "Terrell's around, we’ve just got to make sure that we're trying to build some consistency with how we do things."
The 51-year-old Williams is well-respected, not just by the players and staff here in New England, but by the league as a whole. As I wrote back when he was hired this winter, the prevailing sentiment was that this was a long-overdue promotion for the veteran assistant, widely regarded as one of the best defensive line coaches in the game.
But Williams' health continues to impact this budding season. Vrabel has now used the word "consistency" in reference to the defense and the situation, making me wonder if the head coach was considering moving his friend and colleague into a more advisory role going forward.
"Well, I don't know if I'm ready to say that yet," admitted Vrabel. "I’m just making sure that, one, his health is first and foremost. That's critically important. Again, just making sure that the consistency is there so that we know what to account for and plan for. I don't want to say that it's fluid, but we'll see where things are and if he's going to continue to help us. I just don't know, based on the availability, what that's going to look like.
"So, the communication and everything that we've been doing over there has been good. His ability to help us has been really good. But I also don't want to go back and forth. I don't think that's good for anybody either. So, appreciate you asking about Terrell, but right now we'll just kind of, I would say, moving forward, kind of be where we were last week. That's where I would anticipate it being this week."
Meaning once again, Kuhr would be calling the shot, with obvious assistance from Vrabel. There is a fine line for Vrabel to walk, and he obviously doesn't want to pull the rip cord on Williams. However, the coach's health is the priority, understandably, but there's still a season to be played. From that perspective, we're inching closer to an assignment change becoming a reality, at least for the purpose of 2025.
STAND BY YOUR MAN
Rhamondre Stevenson knows where he stands. Postgame on Sunday, that was in front of his locker, repeating what has been an all-too-familiar scene in the last year and change.
"I've gotta hold onto the ball to have value," he said. "If I can't hold the ball, then they don't need me."
Some will argue the Pats no longer do. Nine fumbles in the last 20 games will drive that narrative. But Stevenson's exceptional performance in the week two win at Miami was proof that when he's right, this team doesn't have another player like him, putting Vrabel in a difficult spot.
"Yeah, we're going to need him," he said. "We're going to need everybody. He's got talent, skillset. He's a good protector; we trust him in protection. We'll get through this. I think a lot of it is just the consistency and continuing to build confidence. But you have to go out there and do it. "How I manage that from an accountability standpoint, I would say as of now, I don't know what that will look like later on in the week, as far as how we distribute the reps."
Bill Belichick would almost always bench a repeat offender to send the message not only to the player, but to the entire team. This won't be tolerated. Stevenson comes from that world, having been drafted by Bill. Of course, most of those teams were supremely talented and had Tom Brady. This team has neither. So, Vrabel must balance holding players accountable while also ensuring he doesn't lose those players in the process.
"...I’ve also got to try to balance winning football games, gaining yards, scoring points, and all those things," he said. "We’ve just got to get it fixed. I know there's no easy fix. The only thing I know how to do is work, and we'll work at it. If I feel like or we feel like that it's in the best interest to limit those opportunities, then we'll have to do that."
Vrabel referenced continuing to "practice the crap out of it" this week, but with Antonio Gibson also turning the ball over, Josh McDaniels was forced to roll out rookie TreVeyon Henderson as the every-down back, and the rookie ran very conservatively (11 carries, 28 yards). Perhaps that would change if Henderson knew he had a longer leash, but it's on Vrabel to sort through this mess and make a decision that will best benefit a team that needs all the help it can get.
