When Mike Vrabel took over as Patriots head coach in January, there were more than a few messes to clean up for a franchise coming off back-to-back 4-13 seasons.
Along with a coaching staff in need of an overhaul, Vrabel inherited a roster that struggled in some Football 101 areas — like blocking, receiving, and rushing the passer.
The failures of New England’s pass rush in 2024 were hard to ignore. The Patriots traded top EDGE Matthew Judon in August and lost Christian Barmore to recurring blood clots. Add in injury issues for Keion White and Deatrich Wise Jr., and the Patriots wound up dead last in football in total sacks with 28. And it wasn’t just finishing at the quarterback, as Pro Football Focus slapped the Patriots with a 62.1 overall pass rushing grade, which ranked 29th of the 32 teams.
New England made significant strides in that crucial area by overhauling the defensive front. Offseason additions like Milton Williams, Harold Landry, K'Lavon Chaisson, and Khyiris Tonga have given the defense some juice, and Vrabel’s influence was fully on display during a competitive week that included two joint practices and a preseason game at Minnesota.
Star Vikings RT Brian O’Neill impressed by Patriots’ new-look defensive front
Quarterback J.J. McCarthy and the Vikings’ first-team offense had a nice day against the Patriots in joint practice No. 2, which featured a lot of situational and red zone action. New England’s defense won its fair share of reps as well — enough that Pro Bowl right tackle Brian O’Neill took notice in comments to Doug Kyed of the Boston Herald:
“They got some players. It was a good test for us to see Barmore back out there today. That’s obviously going to make a big difference for them. I got a ton of respect for Harold. I played against him before, and just everything I hear about him is true professional. And then Milton’s got some juice for sure, too. … And Keion is pretty good, too, off the edge, and he’s able to do it from both sides, which not a lot of guys can do.
“So they play hard. You can tell they’re really well-coached. It was a really good two days of work for us.”
These are the kind of comments that Patriots fans need to hear. Expectations have been growing throughout the offseason, but to climb out of the NFL’s proverbial basement, New England will need to improve drastically in two major areas: protecting the passer on offense and rushing the passer on defense.
So far, the latter area appears to be on the right track.