If you followed the New England Patriots’ joint practices with the Philadelphia Eagles last week solely on social media, you would probably have Drake Maye, A.J. Brown, and Mike Vrabel’s team on your short list of Super Bowl contenders.
Working against what has consistently been one of the top-scoring defenses in the NFL under Vic Fangio, the Patriots’ starters made their fair share of plays on the practice fields outside Gillette Stadium, with the blossoming Maye-to-Brown connection at the forefront.
But it was a different story during Saturday night’s preseason game, when New England’s biggest concern entering the 2026 season had Vrabel a bit cranky during his postgame press conference.
The Patriots ended up winning the game, 24-21, but the Eagles’ offense had little trouble picking apart Vrabel’s defense, especially in the short passing game. According to Pro Football Focus, 169 of the Eagles’ 211 net passing yards came after the catch.
Vrabel was so frustrated that he called a timeout during the first half and gathered his defensive players. He was still hot after the game, saying he called that on-field meeting due to “dog (bleep) defense.”
“I do not think we have a very deep team,” Vrabel said after ESPN’s Mike Reiss asked a follow-up question about whether starters could play in the preseason finale, “so I think we have to make sure that we are preparing our football team and that we are doing everything that we can to keep our best players available.”
Mike Vrabel sent a message to his team on Saturday night, but he should be looking himself in the mirror
The Patriots’ depth concerns are very real, especially in the trenches, which have long been a focal point of Howie Roseman and the Eagles. If Vrabel is envious of Philly’s depth along the offensive and defensive lines, he can get in line along with just about every other coach and executive in the league.
But we’re about to enter the 2026 regular season, and the Patriots are coming off a Super Bowl run. The Vrabel regime has already made 20 draft picks and countless other roster moves.
It’s undeniable that the end of the Bill Belichick era and the one-year Jerod Mayo disaster set the franchise back, but at this point, the team’s depth issues fall more prominently on the shoulders of Vrabel and his top lieutenants like John Streicher, Ryan Cowden, and Eliot Wolf.
Patriots tight end Hunter Henry was asked about Vrabel challenging the team’s roster depth and said it had no negative impact on the locker room this week.
“No, not with the team,” Henry said on Monday. “But I mean, I can speak personally — we’ve got a lot of good football players in here, I believe. I go against a lot of different guys on a day-to-day basis, and we’ve got a lot of really good football players.”
The Eagles have built elite roster depth through an established front office — Roseman is entering his 15th season as Philly’s GM — and by continually developing their top draft picks into starters or key contributors. The Patriots have a long way to go in that department.
This year’s draft was marred by Vrabel’s personal situation, which led him to step away from the team to be with his family as his staff made six total selections on Day 3. Outside of second-round edge rusher Gabe Jacas, the Patriots might not get much production from rookies outside of special teams this year.
We’re too far removed from Belichick at this point to keep blaming his poor drafts for the current state of the depth chart. It’s unclear who exactly Vrabel was targeting with his comments to Reiss on Saturday night, but it definitely shouldn’t be pointed at the players.
The Patriots’ depth concerns fall on the front office, and Vrabel himself is front and center.
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