Professional football and grammar lessons don’t always mix. Yet when Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel busted out some subjunctive mood on Friday, it was difficult to ignore.
The hopeful expression of language from Vrabel came after he was asked if veteran pass rusher Harold Landry will be playing football for the Patriots this season.
“Of course, the plan would be for him to return at some point. I mean, when he’s ready to go,” Vrabel answered. “Harold has been around. He’s working extremely hard and just isn’t ready to go yet. So, we just have to be patient and continue with what he’s doing, which is coming in every single day, doing his part to be around the team in the morning, and then go and do his rehab. Just not ready yet. And so we’re not going to put him out there.
“But of course, when he’s ready, that would be the plan.”
Perhaps it’s splitting hairs, but that would be the plan sounds significantly different from that is the plan. And if that style of answer was given to a question on any other player, perhaps it wouldn’t stand out as odd.
Yet with Landry — — who missed the final two games of the season, missed the AFC Championship Game, was a shell of himself in his three active playoff games, and hasn’t been seen with the team all spring, summer and now early fall — most everything has been odd about his 2026 calendar year.
Landry’s injury history with Patriots
Though it may feel like a long time ago now, Landry had an electric start to his Patriots career. After signing a three-year contract worth up to $43.5 million in free agency to reunite with Vrabel, Landry recorded 5.5 sacks with 12 total QB hits in his first seven games with the Patriots. He recorded three more sacks — one per game from Weeks 12-15, with a bye mixed in — but suffered a knee injury along the way. (He previously suffered an ankle injury, which made him questionable in Week 7, but he didn’t miss any games.)
After being listed as questionable in Weeks 12, 13 and 15, Landry missed the final two games of the regular season with his knee injury.
The two weeks of rest might not have led to much healing. Landry played 26 snaps in the team’s postseason opener against the Chargers, and then played just 11 snaps a week later against Houston. Landry was ruled out of the AFC title game in Denver due to the knee, and though he suited up for the Super Bowl, he took just 14 snaps.
He recorded 5 total tackles (4 solo, 1 assist) with 1 QB hit and no sacks during those three playoff games.
“Oh yeah, for sure,” Landry said after the Super Bowl loss when asked if he was looking forward to Year 2 in New England. “I mean, I’m gonna get my knee right and then we’re gonna get right back to it.”
Landry’s comment suggested that some type of cleanup procedure would likely be done to get him back on track, though exact details of any offseason procedure remain difficult to find. If he did undergo a procedure in February, a four-to-six month recovery window would have had him getting back to the field by August. With the calendar now in mid-October, Landry still doesn’t seem close to a return.
Vrabel’s comments on Landry
Friday’s that would be the plan comments from Vrabel weren’t his first eyebrow-raising words on the status of Landry.
“Harold has played a lot of football,” Vrabel said when asked for a status check on Landry when minicamp began. “And so we just have to try to — this is all part of everyone has a little different plan. I think you guys understand that, having spent a year with us and kind of how we operate. So, he is very involved, very heavily involved in the meetings and the workouts and in a leadership role. For him to take reps right now in the spring, I feel like is unnecessary. We will just keep working to make sure that he is ready to go when we need him.”
Just to replay the part that might have gotten lost in there: For him to take reps right now in the spring, I feel like is unnecessary.
That quote marked perhaps the first time in the history of American football that a head coach suggested that practice reps for any player could be considered “unnecessary.” Vrabel’s intent, clearly, was to quell any concerns about Landry’s recovery and future playing status.
In late July, when training camp opened, Vrabel refused to speculate whether or not Landry might have a late start to the season.
“I’m not going to predict that,” Vrabel said. “I’m not going to pretend to predict that. We’re going to talk about injuries that could happen, they’re 100 percent in football. At some point in time, everybody’s going to get hurt. The expectation is they all work extremely hard to get back, that they’re where they’re supposed to be when they’re supposed to be there. They focus on what they can do as opposed to what they can’t do. I’m very confident with our return‑to‑play.
“Where Harold is at the start of the season, I wouldn’t be able to tell you right now. He won’t be practicing, but he’ll be working, and hopefully we’ll get him back.”
In mid-August, when Landry still hadn’t participated in camp, Vrabel was asked for an update on him (and Brenden Schooler).
“They’re here. They’re rehabbing. They’re working through the return to play. Where they are for Week 1, they won’t be out there today, so that’s the only update I can give you,” Vrabel said. “They won’t play in the [preseason] game this week, and I think they’re just continuing to work to try to get there. When they get there, obviously they’ll be there.”
On Sept. 1, as the page turned to the regular season, Vrabel indicated that Landry being on the physically unable to perform list was expected.
“We’d love to have Harold back, we’d love to have Schooler back. But those guys, I wasn’t probably anticipating them being out there,” Vrabel said. “So, if it was something that was sudden, maybe that would be a little different. But, I think the plan was that this is not unexpected.”
That was certainly a different tone than the one Vrabel had taken throughout the offseason.
At the end of September, Vrabel still offered little detail on Landry’s status.
“Harold continues to work hard to try to get back,” Vrabel said ahead of the Buffalo game. “I think we’ll just have to be smart about when we start his window and then what that looks like. But not yet.”
All of which brings us to Friday, when Vrabel suggested what would be the plan for getting Landry back onto the field.
It didn’t inspire much belief that it could happen any time soon.
How could Landry return to Patriots roster?
When Landry was placed on the reserve PUP list, it meant he’d have to miss the first four games of the season. That mandated absence ended after the game in Buffalo, though Landry could have started practicing before that if he had been healthy enough to do so.
Now, PUP players can open their 21-day practice window at any time between Weeks 5 and 9. That means Landry has three more weeks before a decision would have to be made on him opening that window.
From there, the Patriots would have three more weeks to allow Landry to prove he’s up to speed before having to activate him. Theoretically, then, Landry could be in line for a post-bye season debut in L.A. against the Chargers in Week 12.
At this point, that would seem like a best-case scenario.
Without Landry, the Patriots have generated a surprisingly consistent pass rush with just free-agent addition Dre’Mont Jones, rookie Gabe Jacas and second-year EDGE Elijah Ponder carrying the bulk of the workload. They’ve gotten by, and they should be able to continue to do so. But they’re certainly walking a tightrope in terms of depth, and with Jones dealing with shoulder issues himself, the team remains one snap away from being shorthanded at a critically important position.
A return for Landry — and an effective return, at that — would be a major boost for the defense. Based on every update (and non-update) from Vrabel, though, it might best to consider any return from Landry to be a bonus.
