The 2025 Patriots were remarkably fortunate with injuries, which played a significant role in the team’s ability to go 14-3 after back-to-back seasons with a 4-13 record.
This year, if the Patriots remain just as lucky on the injury front, they should remain one of the better teams in the AFC. Their starting group — especially on offense — is that good.
Yet if the Patriots start losing starters at almost any position, the preseason showed that they do not have the depth to keep things afloat until or if that starter returns.
“If Mike Vrabel was calling out the depth of his team last week by saying that they aren’t deep and calling on these guys to give a more credible performance, they didn’t do that,” Tom E. Curran said after the Patriots’ 37-13 loss in Cleveland. “They failed, which leads me to believe that they might not be good enough to do that. These guys, going from 25 to 53.”
Curran suggested that the Patriots will be busy claiming and/or signing players who get waived or released this weekend, meaning they’ll be cutting down their roster below the mandated 53-man threshold.
“The Patriots really have to look at, when it comes time for cuts, at cutting more than they have, so that they can start claiming players. Which is jarring for a team coming off a Super Bowl appearance, but they are — as Mike pointed out — not deep,” Curran said. “They’re going to have to cut guys so that they can claim guys from other teams.”
And while the bottom half of the roster won’t necessarily make or break the Patriots’ season, Curran explained why this dreadful performance in Cleveland still mattered.
“This is the only game on the schedule for these guys for the next six months. They’re not gonna play a ton. This is their opportunity to earn a job in the NFL, ensure a job, put tape out there, whatever you want to call it. And they’re non-competitive,” Curran said. “And that, again, it’s why Mike Vrabel veered to say, we’re not a very deep team. We don’t have any depth. And that’s why the starters aren’t playing, because they don’t want these guys on the field. Because if a starter does go down, then you’re staring at these guys — maybe James Hudson or somebody like that — on the field. And you can’t have it. So it is, not to their overall fortunes if everyone stays healthy, but if they don’t, they’re not going to be a real good team.”
Curran accentuated this point when explaining why the Patriots didn’t play most of their starters for the entire preseason.
“It shows how terrified Mike Vrabel is of his football team. He’s terrified of losing any of his starters,” Curran said. “Yes, he used them in joint practices, but that’s controlled and guys aren’t going to the ground. He’s terrified of losing any players and having them out there.”
Gabe Jacas doesn’t look ready
Phil Perry’s major takeaway from the loss in the preseason finale was that Gabe Jacas does not look ready to take on a meaningful role on the Patriots’ defense.
“It was just one play, but it feels like every week in these preseason games, if there’s a fake out there, he’s gonna be all over it — in the wrong way,” Perry said of Jacas. “He’s gonna be chasing that thing into the middle of the line, and the ball is going to be run around him for a significant gain. So that happened again.”
Perry was referencing a third-and-2 in the first quarter, when Jacas ran inside at the running back while quarterback Dillon Gabriel held onto the ball before running it himself for a gain of 8 yards. Later in the first, Jacas drifted toward the middle of the line on another play fake, leading to him being a step and a half behind in his pursuit of Gabriel toward the sideline. Gabriel ended up finding an open receiver for a gain of 52 yards.
With Harold Landry very unlikely to be ready for the season opener, the Patriots are set to enter the season with Dre’Mont Jones and Elijah Ponder as their top edge rushers. The second-round pick Jacas may be forced to be next on the depth chart, which will be a problem in the short term if Jacas continues to bite on play fakes so severely.
“I just don’t know if you can really depend on him as a rotational, third-down, need-you-out-there-in-critical-situations type of pass rusher, at least right now,” Perry said.
Cornerback in focus
The latest news on Christian Gonzalez and his contract negotiations with the Patriots did not paint a pretty picture. Yet whether or not it gets done, the Patriots will certainly have issues on the cornerback depth chart behind Gonzalez and Carlton Davis. And James Woods didn’t exaclty do much this summer to help that cause.
Perry wouldn’t be shocked to see Woods — whom the Patriots claimed off waivers last year after cutdown day — not make this year’s roster.
“Charles Woods came to camp as the outside corner backup for Christian Gonzalez and Carlton Davis. He’s out there playing late in this [final preseason game], did not play well in this game,” Perry said. “So [Woods getting cut] would not be a surprise to me. But if you had told me a month ago that he would be cut, it probably would be.”
Other backup corners on the roster include Kindle Vildor, Channing Canada, Kobee Minor and rookie Karon Prunty. In addition to secondary depth, Curran included interior offensive line and running back as areas the Patriots will look to add from players who are cut and released around the league this weekend, with Perry adding defensive tackle and linebacker to the list.
