#patriots

#patriots

On Saturday afternoon, news broke that starting pass rusher K'Lavon Chaisson would not be on the field on Sunday night, as he is still dealing with a knee injury that kept him away from practice in the days leading up to the game. That inevitably puts a lot of pressure on the rest of the defensive line, with an emphasis on the other pass rushers that will need to ensure Chaisson's absence is not too apparent, especially when going against a quarterback like Josh Allen and a running back like James Cook.

The unit performed well during the preseason, but became more of a liability once the regular season finally began. The biggest problem continued to be at kicker, with rookie Andy Borregales looking like a potential mistake, on top of issues with the typically reliable punter Bryce Baringer, and tackling becoming more of a problem each week. What hasn't been problematic, however, is the return game, which has now been officially taken over by cornerback Marcus Jones.

There are a lot of areas the Patriots need to improve upon, and most of them have been made abundantly clear through three games already. After their Week 2 win over the Dolphins, it appeared as though many of those issues were behind them, only for them all to be back in full force against a very beatable Steelers team.

"I think it's always about the entire package. When you look at compensation, it's the body of work. It's what they're going to do for us," Vrabel said of Williams in March. "There's a high ceiling and a great vision about the person, the effort, the skillset, the speed in which he plays. There's power. Certainly, there's an aggressiveness. To be able to add him to our defensive line is something that was really exciting."

The 29-year-old former Patriots captain was released by New England in a surprising move on cutdown day last month. Peppers had just signed a contract extension with the team last year. "It is what it is, sometimes you're not good enough," Peppers said in a video posted to YouTube by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "You play a long time in this league, you know, you're going to get traded or cut."

A lot went wrong for Mike Vrabel and the Patriots in their season-opening loss to the Raiders on Sunday at Gillette Stadium. After a promising first half, Drake Maye and the Patriots' offense flatlined down the stretch - punting or turning the ball over on six of the team's final seven drives of the afternoon. New England's defense did only allow 20 points, but Geno Smith and the Raiders still managed to generate

Throughout training camp, the Patriots were fortunate to have a legitimate competition between their two kickers, one of whom, Andres Borregales, they used a sixth-round draft selection on earlier this year. The other, Parker Romo, was a member of the 2024 squad and brought a tough battle to the widely considered best kicking prospect of the 2025 class. That meant it took all the way until roster cutdowns for Mike Vrabel and Co. to ultimately decide who would fill the role this year.

"We'll call it what is is: It hasn't been real great," Vrabel said of the team's drafting in recent years.

As roster cuts are underway and teams are preparing to finalize their 53-man team for the 2025 season, the Patriots are inevitably going to look at those who are hitting the free agent market to see if anyone can boost their team further. They have a few vulnerable positions to focus on, as many don't have a lot of depth, and the offense could become the focus.

Throughout the offseason, there have been questions about the Patriots' quarterback room behind Drake Maye for various reasons. Some analysts and fans were intrigued by the addition of veteran Joshua Dobbs, while others weren't sure about the value he brought to the roster or Maye's development. The same could be said about Ben Wooldridge, but he was released not long after his lackluster performance against the Giants last week in the preseason finale.

Belichick is showcasing Patriots greats to his players in UNC, limiting his radio appearances to emphasize a focused coaching approach and maintain a brand of minimal media interaction.