New England Patriots defensive coordinator Terrell Williams will be away from the team for “the next few days” due to what head coach Mike Vrabel described as “unforeseen ongoings.”
Vrabel announced Williams’ absence at a press conference at Gillette Stadium on Wednesday. While not giving any insight into the reasoning behind it, he did acknowledge that it was medical in nature but not related to the “medical scare” he had dealt with in March.
“We’ll have to run some more tests, and we think it’s best
and I think it’s best that he focuses on that, and we prepare for Miami with what we’ve been doing,” Vrabel said. “We’ll talk to you a little bit later in the week on Friday about how the calling of the game will go defensively. Zak [Kuhr] and I have been working with the staff to make sure that we’re where we need to be.”
Williams, 51, arrived in New England earlier this offseason to get his first opportunity to coordinate a defense. A longtime assistant under Vrabel with the Tennessee Titans, he spent the 2024 season as defensive line coach for the Detroit Lions.
However, Williams had to spend almost four months away from the Patriots’ facility after suffering a medical emergency during the offseason. Before his return at the start of training camp, he had to work remotely from his home in Detroit. Inside linebackers coach Zak Kuhr served as a replacement DC on the ground during that time, and will also take over for the time being.
“I think Zak does a fantastic job, always has, since he’s been with us before,” Vrabel said. “Work through the game plan, we’ll work through practice, we’ll work through the normal operation at third down, short yardage and red zone. We’ll have to be great. We’ll have to have great preparation for an offense that motions a lot and relies on their speed and their timing, their precision.”
The Patriots will travel to Miami this week to take on the Dolphins on Sunday.
