Through the first two weeks of the 2025 season, the Patriots have had a lot of ups and downs with their roster, with many players making headlines for all the right, and some for all the wrong, reasons. That has unfortunately continued into their Week 3 matchup against the Steelers, as their struggles continue to hold them back from succeeding.
Among the most dire of problems continues to be their secondary, which has struggled in Christian Gonzalez's absence. It looked like the cornerback would make his season debut this week, as he returned to practice for the first time since July 28, but he was ruled out on Saturday and will have to wait until, at least, next week to help his teammates lock down some of the top receivers in the league.
It was an unfortunate development that is proving to be costly, as Alex Austin has started in his place and has had a rough game against the Steelers. He was hit with two costly penalties on third down in the first half, which allowed the Steelers to go down and score.
That has apparently led Mike Vrabel to decide to bench the cornerback in favor of Charles Woods, but he's not the only one who is now on the sideline.
Mike Vrabel is not taking mistakes by the Patriots lightly in Week 3
The struggles of the linebackers have been well documented so far this season, with the biggest culprits being Christian Elliss and Robert Spillane. Their missed tackles lead the league, and they have allowed far too much yardage for a defense to be okay with.
Some of those struggles have continued into this week, which seems to have forced Vrabel to also bench Elliss in the third quarter.
Patriots CB Charles Woods is still in for Alex Austin.
— Doug Kyed (@DougKyed) September 21, 2025
It appears Austin and Christian Elliss have been benched. Rhamondre Stevenson next?
This is exactly what the Patriots need if they are going to continue to make foolish mistakes. They need to be held accountable, and if benching is the way Vrabel sees fit, then it's hard to argue that it's not a good idea.
Given the problems are also happening with Rhamondre Stevenson, as Doug Kyed stated, it's also possible we'll see the running back benched for the rest of the game, as well. That might be what's best for the team moving forward, especially since they used their second-round pick on one of the best running backs of the 2025 class.