Everything you need to know from the Patriots’ 37-14 loss to the Browns in quickie form, with BSJ insight and analysis:
HEADLINES
Take this preseason and shove it. Mike Vrabel decided not to play his starters this summer. I get it. The team’s depth is something I’ve written about this spring and here in August, even before the head coach brought it to everyone’s attention. But it’s pretty telling that, initially, he and Browns coach Todd Monken had agreed to give the ones some playing time before reversing course over the last week. All told, 38 players did not dress for the Pats on Thursday night. Not all were being held out because they’re made guys, but you get the gist. This was about surviving and getting to the real thing.
If the play of the backups prompted Vrabel to call them out for playing like “dogshit” last week, how do you think he felt about tonight? They turned Dillon Gabriel, the same guy we watched last year look like he didn’t belong in the league, into a headliner. Gabriel completed 12-of-15 for 186 yards and three TDs. Again, this wasn’t against the starters, but I’m not sure how many of the players competing for Cleveland are headed for long-term roster spots. 4th-stringer, rookie Taylen Green, led a clock-chewing (mercifully) drive that started on their own 2 and ended up in the end zone, capped by a missed tackle from CB Kobee Minor, which was par for the course. Again, 98 yards over 15 plays and eating up 9:26 of time. Yuck.
"Not good enough," Vrabel said postgame. "Couldn't match the speed of the quarterback and the zone read and some of those things. But we'll get back to work and figure out who we're going to get back to work with."
The biggest news of the day came from an Adam Schefter report that the Christian Gonzalez negotiations weren’t going well. That’s not a surprise to me. I’ve been writing/talking for a while about the gap here, but to hear it being amplified, especially after the Eliot Wolf/Gonzalez/Ryan Cowden availability on Tuesday, should raise your level of concern. Gonzalez did make the trip to Cleveland (as one of the 38 who were in street clothes) and, from what I have been able to ascertain, has the support of teammates, but the clock is ticking, and I think all options are on the table. Vrabel was asked about the situation: "I have conversations with Christian, and I understand that this is probably something that's difficult. I've never been in that position to this extent, and, you know, try to try to treat it with class, but also him and I communicate, and he's always free - our players are always free - to feel how they want to feel, and, you know, you just have to stay patient and and hope that we can continue to to work to some sort of agreement."
Vrabel agrees with my take on Kayshon Boutte. I thought he’d be lucky to get 10 snaps a game, and that there would be situations where he wouldn’t be active at all (had he remained). Said Vrabel, “It was one place where we do have some depth, and I think for all parties involved, that was probably the best thing. You know, without injuries, Kayshon probably would have been inactive. Unfortunately, it just - it's kind of the way it was.” Added he tried to thank Boutte as much as he could.
Vrabel didn't close the door on possible activations of Harold Landry (PUP) and Brenden Schooler (NFI). "They have to be able to pass certain things because once you take them off, that's kind of what it is. 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."
THREE UP
Kyle Williams: Three preseason games, three touchdowns. I’m fairly certain the guy he beat tonight, D’Angelo Ross (a former Patriot for a minute), is not an NFL cornerback, and that rep was a disaster for the Browns' defender, but it is what it is. Williams had a solid rep on the opening drive as well, sitting down vs. zone and being synced up with Tommy DeVito. He has a long way to go to become a three-level wideout, but the one trick he has right now is pretty good. Their desire to have him play a role offensively certainly contributed to the Kayshon Boutte trade.
Kyle Dixon: After getting a shoutout from Vrabel earlier this week, Dixon had himself a productive day, catching all eight of his targets for 71 yards. He also was open for what would have been a touchdown had Behren Morton pulled the trigger, but the young QB got lost looking at the rush and ended up taking a sack. Dixon has the size (6’2”, 220 pounds) that you can’t teach, but it hasn’t translated much this summer because of injury. Perhaps, with better health, he is finding his footing and could have earned himself a spot on the practice squad.
Matt Haack: I asked Bedard if he could come up with one more for the list. He hit me with the punter, which I told him to do on his own time. That said, Haack may have turned up the pressure on the injured Bryce Baringer. Per the Big Boy and his stopwatch (nerd alert), one of Haack’s punts had a 4.59 hang time, traveled 49 yards and a 43 net, then later went 4.47 on a 63-yard boomer that got downed at the 1.5-yard-line. It wasn’t all perfect. His first punt in the fourth quarter looked more like what Morton did last week in his super-sub role, but I put the blame solely on Greg for jinxing him.
FIVE DOWN