{"id":32338,"date":"2025-09-10T16:05:29","date_gmt":"2025-09-10T16:05:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=32338"},"modified":"2025-09-10T16:05:29","modified_gmt":"2025-09-10T16:05:29","slug":"news-patriots-mike-vrabel-assigns-blame-for-disappointing-run-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=32338","title":{"rendered":"NEWS: Patriots&#8217; Mike Vrabel Assigns Blame for Disappointing Run Game"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"post-featured-container-id\">\n<div id=\"post-featured\">\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/GettyImages-2234552663-e1757515741557.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 820px) 95vw, 780px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/GettyImages-2234552663-e1757515741557.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780 780w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/GettyImages-2234552663-e1757515741557.jpg?quality=15&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1100 1100w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/GettyImages-2234552663-e1757515741557.jpg?quality=35&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1350 1350w\" alt=\"Patriots' Mike Vrabel Assigns Blame for Disappointing Run Game\" width=\"780\" height=\"438\" \/><\/figure>\n<div>\n<p>(Photo by Mike Stobe\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p>Drake Maye #10 of the New England Patriots hands the ball to TreVeyon Henderson #32 during the game against the Las Vegas Raiders at Gillette Stadium on September 07, 2025 in Foxborough, Massachusetts.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Stop us if you\u2019ve heard this before, but the Patriots and coach Mike Vrabel came into the 2025 season hoping to establish the run, which was not exactly news because there are 31 other coaches in the NFL who said much the same thing. Still, New England was decidedly deficient in its ability to do that on Sunday, gathering just 60 rush yards on 18 carries.<\/p>\n<p>For a team that came in with a relatively strong running-back room, featuring established veteran Rhamondre Stevenson, experienced third-down back Antonio Gibson and electric rookie TreVeyon Henderson, that is a disappointment.<\/p>\n<p>Stevenson carried seven times for just 15 yards. Henderson had five carries that went for 27 yards, including a long of 14, plus six catches for 24 yards.\u00a0 Gibson had just one carry for three yards.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s easy to blame the backs for the paltry production. But coach Mike Vrabel does not see it that way.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Mike Vrabel Does Not Blame Running Backs<\/h2>\n<p>Assessing the running game after the uninspiring 20-13 loss to the Raiders at home on Sunday, Vrabel assigned very little blame to the backs themselves. He felt the team\u2019s schemes and the offensive line\u2019s ability to execute those schemes was lacking, as well as quarterback Drake Maye\u2019s ability to get the plays set up.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/bostonglobe-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com\/resizer\/v2\/DTV6XE64C5I3PHDLKL7DXPRPNQ.JPG?auth=7e67b7e1af944834320d04c1202b689f1c16d9d87ac6512eb51b1863df6a985c&amp;width=1440\" alt=\"Mike Vrabel opens Patriots tenure with a disappointing loss\" \/><\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think to have a successful offensive play, it takes really everybody. It takes the play caller, right?\u201d Vrabel said, referring to Maye. \u201cGetting the play in efficiently, it takes us being able to identify the players that we need to block, the ones that we\u2019re not going to be able to block and the ones that when we block them and we\u2019re in combination, that we have to move them, and then the backs have to have to run where they\u2019re not. And we say that.\u201d<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Patriots Need \u2018Everybody\u2019 to Make Run Game Work<\/h2>\n<p>Vrabel also turned to the execution of the offensive line, which featured two rookies\u2013guard Jared Wilson and tackle Will Campbell\u2013making their NFL debuts.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s not just the players that we have that we\u2019re handing the ball to, it\u2019s everybody. Again, we have a lot of confidence in the running backs, but also, we have to be able to have a great execution in any scheme, whether that\u2019s a zone scheme, gap scheme,\u201d Vrabel said. \u201cSo again, the bottom line is we have to run the ball better and we have to run it more efficiently because then I think that all opens up some more of the stuff that we\u2019re doing, can do and want to be able to do so that it\u2019s not just a drop-back passing game.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.clubs.nfl.com\/image\/upload\/t_landscape_tablet\/patriots\/towz3vnf0xzv8oyjms7e.jpg\" alt=\"After Further Review: Patriots Rushing Attack is the Key to Improving the  Offense and More Takeaways From Sunday's Loss to the Raiders\" \/><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Patriots OL Rated by PFF<\/h2>\n<p>All in all, it was not a bad outing from the offensive line. It was just not a great one, either. The rookies are obviously an area of concern, but even the veterans need time to come together. Center Garrett Bradbury is a new addition via free agency, as is right tackle Morgan Moses. Mike Onwenu, at right guard, is the only returning player on the line.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a small sample size, but Pro Football Focus rated the Patriots linemen thus in Week 1:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>RT Morgan Moses, 57.6 (39 of 65 NFL tackles)<\/li>\n<li>RG Mike Onwenu, 59.2 (36 of 65 NFL guards)<\/li>\n<li>C Garrett Bradbury, 63.0 (18 of 32)<\/li>\n<li>LG Jared Wilson, 51.8 (49 of 65)<\/li>\n<li>LT Will Campbell, 68.2 (18 of 65)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Patriots coach Mike Vrabel did not put onus for the team&#8217;s running game struggles on the backs, but found plenty of others to blame.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":32339,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32338","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-new-england-patriots"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>NEWS: Patriots&#039; 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