Tuesday Patriots Notebook 8/18: Team Taking it Slow With Lomu

Here are some New England Patriots news and notes for this Tuesday, August 18th, 2026:

Team Taking it Slow With Lomu

The Patriots have taken some hits when it comes to their offensive line depth, with both Ben Brown and Andrew Rupcich each suffering injuries Thursday night against the Indianapolis Colts. Both players are expected to miss extended time, which will see both players out at least until after the start of the regular season.

Brown’s status was measured in “weeks” by Vrabel on Saturday, while Rupcich was placed on injured reserve. However, Mike Reiss reported Sunday that a potential injury settlement could be coming down the road with Rupcich, which might open the door for a return this season. His injury is said to be a strained MCL that won’t require surgery, so it appears both players avoided serious injuries.

Still, the injuries came to the two guys who also brought much-needed versatility. In addition to guard, both were also among the team’s depth at center. With Jared Wilson about to embark on his full season in front of Drake Maye, and with Alijah Vera-Tucker’s injury history, the Patriots needed to build quality depth this preseason.

Jul 28, 2026; Foxborough, MA, USA; New England Patriots offensive tackle Andrew Rupcich (67) and center Ben Brown (77) walk to practice for training camp at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-Imagn Images — **Ben Brown (77) and Andrew Rupcich (67). (PHOTO: Eric Canha-Imagn Images)**

Instead, they lost two key interior linemen. Despite adding Darrian Dalcourt and Joe Michalski over the weekend, New England went ahead and added one more on Monday after signing Greg Van Roten.

The former Giant previously tried out with the team back on August 6th, and an opportunity is now knocking for the veteran following a rough stretch for the team.

One player who could factor into the mix at guard at some point is rookie Caleb Lomu. Lomu has been primarily seeing time at tackle, with the rookie having spent most of his time on the right side behind Morgan Moses, along with getting some limited work at left tackle.

There was talk earlier in camp that he might get some work in at guard, but that seems to be something where head coach Mike Vrabel admitted they’re trying to take things slow.

With the rookie already having to adjust to playing tackle in the NFL, Vrabel explained on Monday that the goal right now is to allow him to improve and develop at tackle.

“Yeah, certainly could,” said Vrabel when asked if Lomu might see time at guard due to all their injuries. “I think we just- what happens is, where do you feel like he can make the most strides? And you don’t want to derail the improvement that he’s making and some of those things. And so I’m probably much like you guys and say, ‘Hey, that it’s not that big of a deal to go from tackle to guard.’ I’ve got a lot of coaches that probably think differently than what you guys [the media] and maybe me think, and that it’s a little bigger deal.”

“But I think Caleb’s been working hard. He’s been trying to improve. But I think at some point we will need to do that as well. And that’s just trying to be fair to the kid and the player as he’s developing and learning this game and this league. And then at some point in time we’ll probably have to take a look in there.”

Following Van Roten’s signing, it left the team math-wise one player over the limit roster-wise as of Monday night. That likely means another move needed to be made, although no report has come out yet regarding who that might have been.

Van Roten, 36, has started 105 games over the course of his 11-year career, including every game in each of the last two seasons in New York with the Giants.

Aug 11, 2026; Foxborough, MA, USA; New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel shakes hands with wide receiver Kyle Williams (18) during a joint practice with the Indianapolis Colts at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-Imagn Images — **(PHOTO: Eric Canha-Imagn Images)**

Vrabel Looking For Consistency

Coming off of Last week’s joint practice against the Colts, Vrabel said on Tuesday that one of the areas of focus this week against Philadelphia is going to be trying to build more consistency.

One area of concern he had last week was trying to make sure everyone is on the same page from the beginning of practice all the way to the end as the club continues introducing new concepts and plays.

He added that the habits they’re establishing now in practice are ones that likely translate into how they play on game day, so it’s important that they keep improving.

“No, that we have to just continue to be more consistent,” said Vrabel when asked Monday if he learned anything from last week’s Colts joint practice that will help them against Philadelphia. “We have to continue to understand that the opponent changes, that what we see in the beginning of practice is usually going to be some of the same things that we see in the end.”

“If you don’t fix problems or get things addressed or recognize new plays, that’s going to be what it’s like in the game. So I don’t know if I learned anything other than we have to continue to keep improving. And that’s the goal.”

The team is set to hold two sessions against the Eagles ahead of Saturday’s preseason game, with the first one beginning to tomorrow, followed by a second one on Thursday.

When asked how different things might look given that they’ll be practicing twice this week compared to the single session they had last week against Indianapolis, Vrabel said the approach won’t change, but that they’ll simply expand on the things they are able to work on.

“I don’t think it’s much different,” said Vrabel. “I think that we’ll be able to do a lot more field work on the first day and then probably focus on the red zone the next day. But other than that, we tried to put everything into one day versus Indy, and now we’ll have much more concentrated work second day in the red zone.”

Jun 2, 2026; Foxborough, MA, USA; New England Patriots tight end Eli Raridon (82) looks on during the team's OTA at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-Imagn Images — **(PHOTO: Eric Canha-Imagn Images)**

Odds and Ends

With all the injuries along the offensive line, Vrabel admitted Monday that this will be a big week for the younger players. With the Eagles coming in, they’ll be in a competitive situation, which he said he and the coaching staff will be evaluating how they perform as they try to shore things up. “Well, I mean, I think we have to be able to evaluate the younger group and see what they do here this week and in a competitive setting, and then also in the game, and then always keep our eyes open to what it looks like around the league,” said Vrabel. … Vrabel had positive comments on rookie tight end Eli Raridon on Monday, noting that his consistency has stood out to this point. “I think probably fairly well. I mean, it could always be better. I think that he’s done some good things,” said Vrabel. “I think he’s learning. He rarely makes the same mistake twice. If we coach him on something or he didn’t like what he did in one day, he usually comes back the next day and does a decent job at it. You can see him consciously trying to do the things that we’re asking him to do. And I think we’re headed in a good direction, but a long ways to go.” … Christian Gonzalez missed practice again Monday, and it’s tough to say just how long he’ll be out. Vrabel said Monday that the cornerback is in a “return to play” situation right now, which comes after he appeared to potentially get nicked up in practice at the end of last week. Following the Colts game, Vrabel said of Gonzalez, “Working hard, conditioning, but won’t be practicing. He’s not ready to get back out there and practice yet,” which continued Monday. … When it comes to his contract, the hope is that the recent extension of Seattle’s Davon Witherspoon might help the negotiations on an extension move forward after Adam Schefter had reported the two sides “have not made much progress so far.” When asked whether the Seattle defensive back’s deal might set a guideline for a potential deal, Vrabel expressed the fact that each situation is unique, and the goal now is just to get him back out there. “Well, I think like a lot of things, everything is pretty unique to itself,” explained Vrabel. “And whether that’s negotiations or that’s players or the play that we’re running. Certainly, those are unique and individual situations, and I think we’ll try to focus on Christian’s and I know he’ll focus on his own situation. So we’ll continue to work through that, and he’ll continue to try to improve and try to get back out onto the field.” … The team announced the date and time for former Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski’s Patriots Hall of Fame induction, which is set to happen this season. The ceremony will be held on Saturday, November 7th at Patriots Place. New England faces off against the Packers the next day at Gillette Stadium on Sunday, with Tom Brady scheduled to be in the booth for that game. That could mean we’ll see the QB speak during the ceremony, which provides another reason to make sure that date is circled on the calendar.

About Ian Logue

Ian Logue is a Seacoast native and owner and senior writer for PatsFans.com, an independent media site covering the New England Patriots and has been running this site in one form or another since 1997.

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