The New England Patriots will take the field Sunday in Miami with their third defensive play-caller in a span of three games.
Inside linebackers coach Zak Kuhr will call the Patriots’ defensive plays in Week 2 with defensive coordinator Terrell Williams away from the team due to health issues, head coach Mike Vrabel confirmed Friday. Vrabel noted he’ll assist Kuhr with some of his responsibilities.
“I’ll help him like I always do, but I’m excited for that,” Vrabel said Kuhr assuming de facto DC duties. “I think we’ve been prepared all week for that, for the preparation, for the game planning. All the phases of first and second down, what this team wants to try to do and how we want to try to defend them, and the keys and the plan on third down or short yardage in the red zone. So, it was a good week of preparation.”
Williams, who was brought on by Vrabel in January to replace previous defensive coordinator DeMarcus Covington, is undergoing testing to address an undisclosed health issue that Vrabel said is not related to the medical condition that forced him to be away from the team for much of the spring.
Kuhr called the shots for New England’s defense during Williams’ first absence, and now he’ll have the opportunity to do so in an NFL game for the first time in his young coaching career.
So, why did Vrabel tab Kuhr — who was an offensive assistant until as recently as 2018 and has never held a position higher than inside linebackers coach — to lead the Patriots’ defense against Tua Tagovailoa, Tyreek Hill and the speedy Dolphins?
For starters, the two have a history: Kuhr worked with Vrabel for two seasons at Ohio State in 2011 and 2012 — Kuhr was an intern for then-head coach Urban Meyer, while Vrabel was a defensive assistant — and Vrabel later brought him on to his Tennessee Titans coaching staff in 2020.
“Going back to just having been an offensive coach, and I watched him work at Ohio State, and when we were able to get him to Tennessee, how quickly he translated that knowledge to defense,” Vrabel said of Kuhr. “How quickly he learned defense and what an asset he was defensively for us, especially coming from some of the college game and as some of those trends started to make their way to the National Football League, some of the spread, the RPO or things like that — he really became an asset for us defensively.”
Vrabel also was impressed with how Kuhr filled in for Williams this spring, noting that he saw “a lot of maturity, a lot of growth, (and) also a lot of knowledge” from his assistant.
How much longer Kuhr will be calling defensive plays remains to be seen. Vrabel said he’d likely have an update on Williams “next week,” but if his absence continues, it sounds like Vrabel is comfortable with Kuhr leading the defense.
Kuhr’s unit has plenty of room for improvement after allowing Geno Smith to rack up 362 passing yards and giving up nine plays of 20 yards or more last week’s 20-13 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders. He’ll also be shorthanded, as Vrabel confirmed star cornerback Christian Gonzalez has been ruled out of Sunday’s game due to a hamstring injury he suffered on July 28.
Kickoff for Patriots-Dolphins is set for 1 p.m. ET at Hard Rock Stadium.
