The Patriots are 1–2 to start the 2025 NFL season but it could easily be 2–1, as New England's Week 3 loss to the Steelers was rife with self-inflicted wounds. Running back Rhamondre Stevenson was a particularly brutal offender in that regard; the former Pro Bowler fumbled twice against Pittsburgh while racking up only 56 total yards. He's coming off a 2024 season in which he recorded a career-high seven fumbles so it isn't a new problem.
But it's the first time coach Mike Vrabel has had to deal with it. Vrabel was hired over the offseason to completely reconstruct the Patriots from the ground up and last year's 4–13 team was so bad that nobody's job was considered safe. On Friday, Vrabel was asked who will start at running back for New England in light of Stevenson's struggles to hold onto the ball.
Vrabel responded frankly, telling reporters Stevenson isn't facing any "discipline" and compared the idea of benching Stevenson for his fumbles is akin to thinking about benching starting quarterback Drake Maye for backup Joshua Dobbs after he turned the ball over twice against Pittsburgh.
"We have different packages. If you're asking me if Rhamondre is on some sort of discipline, no" Vrabel said. "The discipline is we need our best players to play in a game and do their job and take care of football. And we all have to do that. Drake had an interception and a fumble, we're not going to play [Dobbs] now.
“We have to fix those things, the people around them have to be better and I'm confident that we will. I'm not going to talk about the alternative. I'll go down that road later, but those are things that we have to get fixed, but we also have to do good things with the football, make people miss, make yards and catch it and block when they blitz. So, we're confident that those guys can do that."
In taking this stance Vrabel is putting his support entirely behind Stevenson. That does not mean he won't bench the veteran if the fumble problems continue. But the roster is generally barren of playmakers and Stevenson, for his flaws, qualifies as such. Just looking at the roster, one would come to the conclusion the Pats won't be hasty to take playing time away from the few difference-makers on the roster; Vrabel's quote above seems to hammer that home.
The Patriots host the Panthers on Sunday, and how Stevenson's playing time shakes out compared to backups Antonio Gibson and TreVeyon Henderson will be worth monitoring.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Patriots' Mike Vrabel Clarifies Rhamondre Stevenson's Role Amid Fumble Issues.
