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As the Patriots continue getting ready for Sunday’s game out in Denver, the hope was that they might potentially get some additional reinforcements heading into Sunday’s AFC Championship game.
So far, one name they were hoping to potentially see back doesn’t appear to be on that list.
Vrabel said during his press conference on Wednesday that Patriots wide receiver Mack Hollins would not be among the players practicing as the club gets ready for Sunday’s game. Hollins, who has been on injured reserve dealing with an abdominal injury, was rumored to be possibly returning to the line-up after not having suited up since Week 16.
He didn’t participate the next week leading up to the Jets game and was eventually ruled “OUT” ahead of that match-up, and was later placed on injured reserve on December 27th.
“That won’t happen today, no,” said Vrabel when asked if he anticipated Hollins being out there on Wednesday. He later added, “No, I would not anticipate Mack being out there,” when asked again by another reporter who didn’t hear Vrabel the previous time he was questioned.
Meanwhile, the team did open the window for defensive tackle Joshua Farmer, who was placed on injured reserve last month. Farmer suffered a hamstring injury against the Ravens in the first quarter of that game and has been sidelined ever since, but he was a full participant during Wednesday’s practice.
The rookie 4th-round pick out of Florida State had seen a fair amount of action this season. He had been a rotational player along New England’s defensive line and on special teams, and was someone who had appeared to be getting better week-by-week prior to getting hurt.
He missed weeks 11 and 12 with an ankle injury, but he averaged over 20% of the team’s defensive snaps for the majority of the season prior to the hamstring injury that sidelined him.
The club did get some good news on Wednesday as running back Terrell Jennings passed concussion protocol, which opens the door for his return. He was placed on injured reserve back on December 13th.
What happens with Jennings would create an interesting decision for the club at the third running back spot. D’Ernest Johnson has handled that role for the last month, with the majority of his play to this point coming on special teams. Johnson did see some action on offense over the final month of the season, carrying 9 times for 18 yards over that span.
Jennings’ last action came against the Giants back on December 1st, with Jennings playing six snaps on special teams in the return game.
One bit of good news on Wednesday saw veteran Carlton Davis out at practice as he remains in concussion protocol. Davis, who was limited on Wednesday, left Sunday’s game late and was replaced by Charles Woods, who finished the contest in his absence. The hope is that Davis will follow a similar pattern that Christian Gonzalez did last week against the Chargers and potentially be cleared ahead of Sunday’s game.
Drake Maye has had a rough couple of weeks when it’s come to handling the football so far this postseason.
Against two tenacious defenses in the Chargers and Texans, Maye’s seen a fair amount of pressure the last couple of games, which has led to the second-year QB losing the handle on the football six times while losing three of them. That included fumbling four times and losing two of them on Sunday against Houston.
Vrabel said on Wednesday that ball security remains a point of emphasis, and turning the football over is something that definitely can’t happen this weekend in Denver.
“We have to be able to not get careless with the football,” explained Vrabel. “We can’t be reckless. And a lot of it is operation. We had two turnovers where we all weren’t on the same page. You could have a negative play if you don’t have everybody on the same page. But even worse, you lose the football. Or if you don’t have somebody on the same page and they blitz, somebody gets hurt. Those are the things we talk about when we’re not on the same page, so I think the operation is going to be critical.”
Vrabel was referring to a botched play late in the first quarter, where it looked like there was a miscommunication on a 2nd-and-5 play. Following the snap, Maye appeared to be looking for a handoff to the right, but Rhamondre Stevenson went left. That left Maye trying to salvage the play, and he took off up the middle with the football, but he took a shot as he went down and lost it before he hit the ground.
The Texans recovered, which gave them the ball at the Patriots’ 27-yard line.
Six plays later, they were in the end zone.
That’s the kind of thing that definitely can’t happen on Sunday against a Denver defense that has likely looked at the tape from these last two weeks and will be intent on creating a few takeaways of their own.
Former Patriots QB Jarrett Stidham is expected to get the starting nod in Denver this weekend, and he’ll be behind a Broncos offensive line that allowed just 23 sacks in 2025. When asked what allowed them to be so good there, Vrabel credited head coach Sean Payton and the offensive staff for keeping their QBs out of harm’s way. “The quarterback gets it out. They do a nice job with moving the pocket and different throws, and not just standing back there,” said Vrabel. “Sean [Payton] and his staff have done a great job of finding the balance of when to throw in the pocket and seven-man protection sometimes on third down. Then again, when they don’t, they block them. They do a nice job of blocking them on the edges, and they try to stay firm in the middle.” … Vrabel is a guy who is intense in practice with his players, and also hasn’t been afraid to jump into drills each week throughout the season. However, he was asked if there was any part of him that misses the physicality. He quickly dismissed that notion. “No,” said Vrabel. “Every day I wake up, I’m glad that I don’t have to practice or play.” … When asked if he’s doing anything here this week to prepare for the altitude on special teams, Vrabel said there were a few things they’ll look into, but he’s confident in his players heading into Sunday. “Well, I’m sure we’ll have to figure out how far Andy [Borregales] can kick with the altitude,” said Vrabel. “And then just being good with where we’re going to put the kickoffs. Marcus [Jones] is going to have to adjust where he aligns based on where the ball travels. But I’m confident that everybody’s going to be ready to go. Hopefully, we can force them to punt and give Marcus some opportunities.” … Vrabel was asked about the crowd being a factor in Denver this weekend, and whether or not there’s a need to work on their silent count. He said that’s been something they’ve worked on throughout the season, even during long stretches where they weren’t playing on the road. “We’ve worked a silent count,” said Vrabel. “We’ve worked a silent count throughout the season, we’ve worked it when we weren’t necessarily going on the road, just trying to figure that we would need to. We went through that stretch of home games. There were games that we were just focused on, saying, ‘Hey, let’s just do it today just to work on it so that we can have it when we need it,’ and then we’ll certainly need it this week.”
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