Rhamondre Stevenson fumbling the football might be new to Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel, but unfortunately, it’s a familiar trend.
Stevenson, who led the league in fumbles last season, has coughed it up nine times (!) since the start of the 2024 campaign. The fifth-year running back has fumbled it 16 times in 38 career starts after New England’s 21-14 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday.
Patriots insiders Phil Perry and Tom E. Curran appeared on Early Edition on Monday night and explained why Vrabel should consider benching Stevenson. The two aren’t reacting to a one-game sample size, after all.
“I think it’s possible,” Perry responded when asked if he thinks Vrabel will bench Stevenson in Week 4 against the Carolina Panthers. “It feels like Mike Vrabel left the door open for that. He said today, ‘We’ll see later in the week what that means in terms of reps for Rhamondre Stevenson after that kind of performance.’ He said last night, ‘I’m only 20 minutes from the end of the game here, we still have to talk about it.’
“That’s an indicator that there is a decision to make,” Perry said. “It is not just, ‘Let’s continue to plow ahead and roll forward with what the options have been in the past.’ So, to me, yeah, I think it should be on the table. You have a deep running back room. You have an opportunity to lean on someone else here. Why not do it?”
Curran agreed.
“He’s fumbled nine times since the beginning of last year. Nine!” Curran said. “If you don’t do something about it, if you allow him to go out there and he fumbles again, then who’s stupid? Who’s the dummy? The manager who allows that to continue to happen without having enough ramifications and enough time to fix it.”
The decision might be easier on Vrabel if backup running backs Antonio Gibson and TreVeyon Henderson executed their duties flawlessly. However, Gibson also fumbled on the possession after Stevenson’s second giveaway. And Henderson, who was praised for his ability in pass protection coming out of college, has struggled in a few areas himself. Henderson averaged 2.5 yards per carry when he took over the lion’s share of the workload late Sunday afternoon.
On paper, the Patriots have a favorable matchup against the Panthers. Carolina ranks 30th out of 32 teams when it comes to rushing yards allowed per attempt this season. The Panthers also rank 26th in rushing yards allowed per game. That’s the good news.
The bad? Carolina ranks fourth in forced turnovers and New England has turned it over six times in three games.
