At this point in his tenure with the Patriots, there isn't much to criticize about Mike Vrabel, as he led the team to the Super Bowl in his first season and was named Coach of the Year for last season's performance.
It was well-deserved, and although 2025 was far from perfect, especially in how the Super Bowl went, it's difficult to be upset about seeing a team that had back-to-back years with just four wins make it to the championship game the following season.
That isn't to say the head coach hasn't made some questionable choices over the past year, whether it be with free agent signings, draft choices, or even something that might feel as small as not having starters take the field during the preseason; there is room for criticism that feels more than warranted.
The decision to keep starters out of the preseason, however, is drawing the most criticism after their brutal loss to the Seahawks on Wednesday night; while it didn't seem like a big deal at the time, some argue it was a giant mistake.
Whether it directly affected how this game was played will never be known, but some argue it did, and it could haunt the Patriots at the start of a tough schedule ahead.
Mike Vrabel is already under fire for a preseason decision that might have hurt the Patriots in Week 1
Now that the preseason has been shortened to just three games, there was a chance that teams across the league would limit their starters to even fewer snaps to limit the risk of injury as much as possible.
Many coaches have voiced support for playing fewer preseason games or eliminating them entirely, so it's not surprising that many would decide it's best to keep their starters off the field, since many don't value them anyway.
But that hasn't been the case for the Patriots over the last 25 years; even during the dynasty era, Tom Brady would get in for at least one drive. It might not do much for their preparation in those few snaps, but it does get them back into the rhythm of the game after 7 months without meaningful football.
Given that the Patriots lost the Super Bowl and made many roster changes since the end of last season, many assumed Drake Maye and other starters would get some reps over the three weeks. If anything, it would give them a feel for the game again ahead of a brutal 2026 schedule.
Instead, nearly every starter was sidelined for all three games, and some believe that forced many to shake off a lot of rust against the Seahawks on Wednesday night, which could have led to what became a devastating loss in Seattle.
It's certainly possible the starters were so far removed from playing the game that they had more nerves and cobwebs to shake off than they otherwise would have. That could potentially explain the apparent jitters we saw from Maye, or even Romeo Doubs, but it wouldn't excuse everything we saw.
That is especially true since many starters did play last preseason, and they still lost their opening matchup against the Raiders.
There is no reason to believe anything would have been different in Week 1
Because of how Maye played this week, many are questioning whether his lack of preseason reps contributed to his performance, citing three interceptions on consecutive fourth-quarter drives as a major factor.
While it may have been a factor, his playing in two preseason games in 2025 and all four as a rookie doesn't support that claim much.
We saw how disastrous the Patriots looked against a very bad Raiders team in Week 1 last season, and that continued through the first month when they added another loss two weeks later to the Steelers, a game that was winnable for a majority of the game.
But after that first month, they went on a nine-game winning streak that helped them win the AFC East and led them back to the Super Bowl for the first time in six years, so not all hope is lost for the 2026 season, even if things don't look too good after Week 1.
On top of that, not playing in the preseason is something you never hear as a reason a team struggled at the start of a new season, or for any reason, for that matter. So it's unlikely it contributed much to this game.
It's easy to look for blame outside what we saw because pointing the finger at someone like Maye is difficult. But he didn't play well when the game was on the line, and that's the reality. He had a chance to steal the win, and he failed, prompting many to look for excuses or conclude what kind of player he is.
But if the Patriots had won, would anyone be talking about how they didn't have starters play in the preseason? No, because it likely didn't have any impact.
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