It should come as no surprise that, after Patriots ccoach Mike Vrabel came out this week and addressed the benching of star defensive lineman Christian Barmore–who was forced to sit out for the first quarter of Sunday’s win over Cleveland–by saying the team will simply “move on,” that Barmore followed that up by echoing the coach’s sentiments.
Barmore wound up playing 30 snaps on Sunday, or 55.6%, according to Pro Football Reference, which is not, in the end, that far off the number Barmore typically plays. He played 35 snaps in Week 7 against the Titans, and has played 63.9% of the Patriots’ snaps this season.
When asked about it on Sunday afternoon, Vrabel said, “I had to make a decision. My job is to protect the team, so when there’s actions that I don’t feel like are commiserate with what we want to do here, I’ve got to make a decision, and we move on.”
Christian Barmore: ‘I’ve Moved On’
Barmore declined to talk to the media after the Browns win, and so had not addressed whatever the incident was that required Vrabel to “protect the team.” He was finally available for reporters this week, though
Andrew Callahan, the Boston Herald Patriots beat reporter, relayed the conversation between Barmore and the media as being laid-back, and it appears unlikely we will ever know what, exactly, Vrabel was protecting the team from:
Q. Did he have a comment on what happened Sunday?
Barmore: “Yeah, I’ve moved on. Next question. Let’s focus on the Falcons.”
Q. Is there anything he learned from the situation that can help him grow?
Barmore: “It’s always about growing.”
Q. Are you on good terms with Coach Vrabel?
Barmore: “Yeah. That’s my guy. Of course.”
Q. Can you share what happened?
Barmore: “It ain’t nothing. It ain’t nothing. We’re just focused on the Falcons. Focused on the Falcons.”
Q. Are you happy with the season?
Barmore: “Of course I’m happy. We’re winning.”
Patriots Dealing With Running Back Shortage
In other Patriots news, there is increasing angst over the toe injury suffered by starting running back Rhamondre Stevenson, as trade chatter around the Patriots’ possible delving into the running-back market heats up. Stevenson missed practice again on Thursday.
The Patriots’ current running back depth chart would feature TreVeyon Henderson as the RB1 and practice squad signee Terrell Jennings as the No. 2 back.
The Patriots did sign running backs to the practice squad and barring improvement from Stevenson, it is likely one of them–D’Ernest Johnson, Jonathan Ward or Rushawn Baker–will be active on Sunday against the Falcons.
Give running backs coach Tony Dews credit. He put the best possible face on the need for the new practice-squad additions: “It’s exciting. It’s like, almost like Christmas day. You wake up, you got all these shiny new toys.”
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