FOXBOROUGH - Mike Vrabel doesn't want to talk about injuries or their timetables. He established that over coffee a week or two after he was hired. That said, the Patriots' head coach has been more forthcoming about physical issues and player availability than his predecessor twice removed ever was.
That doesn't mean he enjoys the process. Especially this week. After being relatively healthy, the Pats suffered several significant injuries, with the chief concern being left tackle Will Campbell (reportedly a sprained MCL with more tests coming). The rookie first-rounder was lost midway through the third quarter after getting rolled up on. He departed the field on a cart and did not return.
“He won’t be out there this week," Vrabel told beat reporters on Monday. "It’s going to be a couple weeks. We’ll have to make a decision here on the roster [possibly putting him on IR] – to see how long that will be. And go from there. But it’s nothing that’s going to, hopefully, put him out for the entire season.”
As I wrote last night, Campbell was emotional, both on the field and when loaded onto the cart. A towel covered his face for the majority of that time, but there was a flash or two when it was clear the 21-year-old was hurting both physically and mentally. Vrabel was asked about that during his weekly appearance on WEEI a few hours before meeting with us.
"Yeah - I mean, I think they all want to play," he said. "And again, those young players haven’t had a lot of, probably, injuries or things that have affected them, and so we'll have to - there's a lot of things we have to manage through and try to help these guys get over that they haven't experienced.”
Campbell played 43 snaps on offense before the injury occurred in the third quarter. Lowe, who had played 18 snaps the entirety of the season, surpassed that number in a quarter and a half, logging 30 snaps. How did it go? Glad you asked.
2nd & 6 at NE 28 (Shotgun) D.Maye pass short left to K.Boutte to NE 37 for 9 yards (D.Hill) - Gets chip help from Henderson. Maintains balance and point of contact. Clear win.
1st & 10 at NE 37 D.Maye pass short middle to A.Hooper to NE 41 for 4 yards (B.Carter) - Run action to his side, boot to the opposite side. Gets help from Ben Brown and while the edge eventually beats the double, he's miles removed from the play.
2nd & 6 at NE 41 (Shotgun) D.Maye pass deep right to M.Hollins pushed ob at CIN 35 for 24 yards (D.Hill). Penalty on CIN-D.Hill, Defensive Pass Interference, declined. - Quick cut block on the edge is successful. Ball is out of Maye's hands quickly.
1st & 10 at CIN 35 T.Henderson right end to CIN 29 for 6 yards (T.Slaton; J.Battle) - Blocks down on defensive tackle Kris Jenkins. Gets into him and drives him into the linebacker level. Good stuff.
2nd & 4 at CIN 29 (Shotgun) D.Maye sacked at CIN 38 for -9 yards (J.Davis) - Nickel blitz comes from his side. Lowe handles the edge 1-on-1; however, protection was screwed up on this play as Brown had no one to block.
3rd & 13 at CIN 38 (Shotgun) D.Maye pass short middle to H.Henry to CIN 27 for 11 yards (D.Ivey) - Got chip help, but allows too much of a runway to the edge and gets beaten pretty decisively. Maye's footwork and pocket presence save the play from being a loss. FG
1st & 10 at NE 20 T.Henderson left guard to NE 23 for 3 yards (M.Murphy; T.Slaton).PENALTY on NE-B.Brown, Offensive Holding, 10 yards, enforced at NE 20 - No Play. - No movement on the play, and actually gets taken out by Brown as he falls to the turf.
1st & 20 at NE 10 (Shotgun) D.Maye pass short left to H.Henry pushed ob at NE 33 for 23 yards (G.Stone). - Handles a bull rush by anchoring down after a couple of negative steps.
1st & 10 at NE 33 (No Huddle, Shotgun) D.Maye pass short left to K.Boutte to NE 39 for 6 yards (D.Hill)- Struggles to handle a speed rush but gets enough contact to shove the rusher wide. Ball out quick again.
2nd & 4 at NE 39 (No Huddle) T.Henderson left tackle to NE 46 for 7 yards (G.Stone) - Not much movement, but stalemate's defender and Henderson cuts inside for a positive play.
1st & 10 at NE 46 T.Henderson left tackle to CIN 49 for 5 yards (C.Johnson) - Point of attack on opposite side. A little pattycake.
2nd & 5 at CIN 49 (Shotgun) D.Maye pass short left to K.Williams to CIN 31 for 18 yards (B.Carter) - Good kickstep to get into excellent position for any kind of pass rusher. Again, ball out quick.
1st & 10 at CIN 31 D.Maye pass incomplete deep right to R.Stevenson - Excellent start to this play, with good positioning, square to the rusher. However, Lowe quickly finds himself on roller skates and gets turned around. He holds like a son of a gun and doesn't get called for it, despite the ref being right there. A gift.
2nd & 10 at CIN 31 (Shotgun) D.Maye scrambles right end to CIN 19 for 12 yards (M.Murphy) - Whiffs on a quick cut block. I'd see if I could get to the master copy and delete this play. Maye bails everyone out, as this was the swing pass that was covered from jump, rolling to the opposite side, and turning a negative into a positive.
1st & 10 at CIN 19 R.Stevenson right guard to CIN 18 for 1 yard (D.Knight; J.Battle) - Blocks down and gets into the defensive tackle. Not a ton of movement, and Stevenson runs right up his backside. That probably didn't feel good.
2nd & 9 at CIN 18 (Shotgun) D.Maye pass short left to H.Henry to CIN 4 for 14 yards (G.Stone). CIN-J.Ossai was injured during the play - Very controlled rush by the Bengals. Borderline slow-motion. They might have been expecting a screen (Douglas ran screen action out of the slot). Lowe is where he's supposed to be.
1st & Goal at CIN 4 D.Maye pass incomplete short right to A.Hooper - Fires out of his stance like he's expecting this to be a run play. It is not. Wise enough to realize that mid-play, disengage from the defender, and take a step back to not get flagged for illegal man downfield. He was the only player reacting as if this were a run.
2nd & Goal at CIN 4 (Shotgun) T.Henderson left guard to CIN 1 for 3 yards (D.Hill; G.Stone) - Looked like he jumped the count. No call. Drives down on Jenkins and neutralizes him. Jenkins wants a hands to the face call. He doesn't get it.
3rd & Goal at CIN 1 D.Maye up the middle to CIN 1 for no gain (B.Carter) - This was a pig pile. Lowe has no impact on the play getting stuffed.
FG
1st & 10 at NE 40 (Shotgun) T.Henderson right tackle to NE 49 for 9 yards (J.Battle) - Play to opposite side.
2nd & 1 at NE 49 (Shotgun) T.Henderson left guard to CIN 49 for 2 yards (T.Slaton; D.Knight) - Turns Joseph Ossai, though could use to maintain contact for another half-second.
1st & 10 at CIN 49 R.Stevenson left tackle to 50 for -1 yards (D.Knight) - Takes a step to block down, realizes that defender is handled and damn near does a 360 trying to locate the linebacker screaming off the edge. It's too late. Knight makes the tackle.
2nd & 11 at 50 (Shotgun) D.Maye pass incomplete short right to M.Hollins - Gets chip help from Hooper but Hooper can't disengage from the block, meaning Lowe hasn't gotten anything to do.
3rd & 11 at 50 (Shotgun) D.Maye pass short middle to S.Diggs to CIN 36 for 14 yards (D.Turner) - Good hand placement/stab at Ossai, knocking him off balance. However, Ossai then takes an interior rush route. To his credit, Lowe realizes there's no help and at least gives him a shove as he closes in on Maye. Ball was coming out anyway.
1st & 10 at CIN 36 T.Henderson right guard to CIN 35 for 1 yard (G.Stone; J.Ossai) - Play run away.
2nd & 9 at CIN 35 T.Henderson right end to CIN 33 for 2 yards (G.Stone; B.Carter) - Blocks down on Jenkins but never gets him square. Play run to opposite side.
3rd & 7 at CIN 33 (Shotgun) D.Maye pass incomplete short left to S.Diggs (D.Turner) - Bengals bringing the house and send two defenders into the same gap. Lowe gets the outside one. No one picks up the inside rusher. Without having gotten an answer as I write this, my feeling is Lowe (and Hooper) blocked the wrong guys. Either way, this was a dangerous throw from Maye that could have easily ended up going back the other way for a pick-6.
FG - 26-20
Vrabel would make any grand statements on Lowe's play, nor how they'll configure the lineup - "too early for that," he told us.
As for the other injured players: Vrabel said of left guard Jared Wilson (ankle, which was booted post-game), "(We'll) see how the week of practice goes or see how the rehab goes. See how he responds there."
-On Khyiris Tonga (chest, tried to return), "Tonga is never going to let anybody down, as long as he's here. These guys want to go, and I have to look at them, and I got to figure out if they can and if they can protect themselves, and they can do their job and not make it any worse. And he clearly, from what I saw, wasn't going to be able to do most of those things. And so we'll just see how he progresses through the week."
- No update on Brenden Schooler (ankle).
- On defensive coordinator Terrell Williams, "I'd say he's continuing to improve from a health standpoint, and again, it's a process and the treatment. But I will say that he did everything that he could to get himself ready for the treatment, for the chemo, so therefore, I think that he's responded well, and it's good to see him continuing to have good weeks, and then come in and see us when he feels up to it, which he has."