It’s taken some time to jell and fully get healthy, but Mike Vrabel’s defense is beginning to take shape now, five games into his tenure as head coach of the New England Patriots.
For as poorly as the group performed in spurts against the Las Vegas Raiders and Miami Dolphins to open the season, the Patriots have been borderline elite since Week 3. Over their past three games, they rank 11th in opponent yards per play and fifth in opponent points per play, according toTeam Rankings.
When you consider that subset includes facing reigning MVP Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills on the road — while forcing three turnovers and holding them to 20 points — it looks even better for the Patriots’ trajectory and what they’re trying to build this year.
Vrabel appears to be cooking up the right combinations — and there were a lot of them on Sunday night. Seventeen players played at least 15 defensive snaps in the Bills game, per Pro Football Focus, with only linebacker Robert Spillane, EDGE Harold Landry Jr., cornerbacks Christian Gonzalez and Carlton Davis III, and safeties Craig Woodson and Jaylinn Hawkins filling true, full-time roles.
That means the Patriots are mixing and matching with the majority of their defensive players on game days right now, and it’s become painfully obvious which veteran player remains the odd man out.
Patriots safety Kyle Dugger got less defensive snaps than specialist Brendan Schooler against the Bills
Dugger’s role was a hot-button topic throughout training camp, but the Patriots’ $58 million safety has now fallen completely off the radar one month into the regular season.
Just about every Patriots player on the 53-man roster has carved out some sort of role at this point, either on offense, defense or special teams. Dugger is the clear outlier. Against Buffalo, he saw fewer snaps on defense than special teams ace Brenden Schooler.
Brenden Schooler (2) out-snapped Kyle Dugger (1) on defense
— Taylor Kyles (@tkyles39) October 6, 2025
Dugger was apparently relegated to dynamic kickoff coverage duty on Sunday night, as he played five of his six special teams snaps in that area against the Bills. To his credit, he was the man who made the tackle on Buffalo’s last-ditch return with 15 seconds remaining in regulation, dumping speedy wide receiver Curtis Samuel at the 28-yard line.
This was always going to be a situation to monitor early in the season, but it’s now taken a turn for the bizarre. Dugger played just one snap on defense and a season-low six on special teams. One of New England’s highest-paid players (his 2025 salary cap hit is second only to guard Mike Onwenu, according to Spotrac) was basically a spectator for the biggest Patriots win in over two years.
Dugger’s contract remains a major obstacle, but it’s feeling more and more likely that New England looks to shop him around this year's trade deadline. He saw his most work in Week 4 against the Carolina Panthers during a 42-13 blowout, and has obviously made little headway on entering Vrabel's circle of trust.