The New England Patriots celebrated their first win of this year’s preseason on Saturday night, beating the Philadelphia Eagles with a final score of 24-21. And yet, Mike Vrabel was not particularly enthusiastic when appearing at the podium after the game.
One are in particular he seems to be concerned about is his team’s depth. He didn’t sugar-coat his feelings either.
“I don’t think we have a very deep team,” Vrabel said when asked about personnel usage in the upcoming preseason finale versus the Brown.
“We have to make sure that we’re preparing our football team and that we’re doing everything that we can that we keep our best players available. If that means playing Thursday as part of preparation, then that’s what we’ll do. I have not made that decision yet, but I would say that that’s something that I’m confident in with where we’re set up currently.”
The Patriots’ starters around quarterback Drake Maye have been held out of preseason action in the two games so far, playing no snaps against either the Colts last week or the Eagles on Saturday. In place of game action, the top-level group did get plenty of reps in three combined joint practices against those teams.
With no such sessions coming up next week, the plans might ultimately change. Vrabel’s statements after the Philadelphia game, however, indicate that Maye and company should again be expected to see minimal action, if that.
There are, after all, various areas that have been tested from a depth perspective. Most prominent among those is the offensive line, which lost another top backup on Saturday when offensive tackle Marcus Bryant injured his ankle on the opening drive. While the severity of Bryant’s injury is not yet known, he joins a growing list of banged-up O-lineman that also includes top interior option Ben Brown and since-released Andrew Rupcich.
The Patriots are scheduled to return to the practice fields on Monday and Tuesday before a final preseason contest in Cleveland on Thursday night.
