The New England Patriots started the on-field preparation for their upcoming game against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Wednesday, but before even taking the practice field were already busy. As head coach Mike Vrabel announced during a press conference leading up to the session, his team moved safety Dell Pettus to injured reserve and promoted outside linebacker Jose Ramirez to the 53-man roster.
Later, core special teamer Brenden Schooler made his practice comeback after starting the season on the non-football
injury list. Let’s assess what all of it means for the Patriots.
Safety depth in the spotlight
The Patriots lost two safeties to injury during Sunday’s win over the Steelers, with neither Pettus nor Craig Woodson finishing the game. Even though he did not practice on Wednesday due to his shoulder injury, Woodson remains on the active roster for now alongside Kevin Byard and Jaylen Reed. Pettus, on the other had, is now off to IR.
The third-year man will miss at least the next four games as a result, meaning New England’s depth at the position will be tested in the near future — at least until Schooler’s theoretical activation from NFI. For the time being, however, the group looks like this:
53-man roster (3): Kevin Byard (31), Craig Woodson (4), Jaylen Reed (23)
Practice squad (2): Mike Brown (33), Elliott Davison (27)
NFI (1): Brenden Schooler (41)
IR (1): Dell Pettus (24)
Head coach Mike Vrabel already mentioned earlier this week that he would expect the Patriots’ practice squad safeties to play an increased role this week. It seems that that does not include moving up to the 53-man team at this point, though; both Mike Brown and Elliott Davison have their three standard elevations left, so New England could go this route to bolster their game day depth.
Next man up Jaylen Reed
Now on IR, Pettus will be out at least against the Jaguars, Bills, Raiders and Jets, with his earliest permissible return date to game action being Oct. 22 versus the Bears. Until then, late-August trade acquisition Jaylen Reed is projected to serve as New England’s third or possibly even second safety, depending on Craig Woodson’s outlook.
“I think Jaylen has done a nice job,” said Mike Vrabel earlier this week. “He’s worked hard. He got put in there – we have to be ready to go. He had some plays that were good. He’s helped us in the kicking game. He would go in there at [punt protector], that’s not an easy thing to do. So, I’m glad that he was prepared and ready to go.”
Injury response
The Patriots could have opted to promote one of their practice squad safeties to their active roster, but they instead decided to move Jose Ramirez up. The move will prevent other teams from potentially poaching him, but more than that comes as a response to two edges — Dre’Mont Jones and Quintayvious Hutchins — not being present at practice on Wednesday.
Should one or both of Jones and Hutchins be unavailable against the Jaguars, the 27-year-old Ramirez would be one of just three edges on the active roster ready for the game. He would project as a rotational third option to complement Elijah Ponder and Gabe Jacas.
“He has been a really good practice player for us,” said Mike Vrabel. “I think he has improved since the time he has been here. Multiple times being recognized by taking the reps that we talk about being on the show team and using those to his advantage. So, there will be an opportunity for him to be able to help us this week when we get down to the 48-man roster.”
The role Vrabel hinted at might be less of a defensive one, but rather tied to the kicking game.
In case Ponder and Jacas are indeed tasked with playing extended snaps on defense, the Patriots could opt to give neither of them any extended special teams snaps versus Jacksonville. Over the first two games, they played a respective 43% and 68% of snaps in the game’s third phase, and Ramirez might help lighten that workload.
IR keeps growing
After the Patriots moved starting right guard Mike Onwenu to injured reserve on Tuesday, we mentioned eight players being on the list. Now, it has grown to nine, not counting players since released with settlements.
Injured reserve (9): RB Myles Montgomery (39 | season-ending), WR A.J. Brown (1), WR Jeremiah Webb (29 | season-ending), TE Julian Hill (80 | season-ending), OT Marcus Bryant (52), RG Mike Onwenu (71), LB Khalil Jacobs (59), S Dell Pettus (25), P Bryce Baringer (17)
If we were to include those aforementioned settlement players, who are no longer under contract with the team, New England’s injured reserve list would be 15 players deep just two weeks into the season.
Window open
Brenden Schooler returning to practice does not guarantee he will eventually make the jump from NFI to the active roster. However, it has at least opened a window that will remain open for 21 days.
As for a theoretical return, it could therefore come as early as Week 5 against the Raiders. If so, the Patriots would quickly benefit from his presence: Schooler offers some theoretical depth at a safety position that has taken its hits, is one of the best special teamers in the NFL today, and is a respected team leader who was voted a captain in 2025.
