Patriots Postgame Notebook: Rough Night For the Defense, Vrabel Makes Interesting Revelation

The Patriots finished off the preseason with a less-than-inspired effort out in Cleveland, with New England heading home on the wrong end of a 37-13 loss as they now turn the page toward the regular season.

Mike Vrabel had the vast majority of starters out for this match-up, with the depth players on full display in what will likely be the last appearance by many of them as roster cutdowns loom.

Rough Night Defensively

Thursday night was not a great performance overall defensively. Usually, when you see players who should be fighting for their NFL lives in a preseason finale, there are usually a bunch of guys who emerge with some inspired efforts before final roster cutdowns.

During this preseason finale, that wasn’t the case. At all.

It was ugly, with the Patriots’ defense giving up a total of 27 first-half points, and they never seemed to come up with too many answers.

The Browns punted just twice Thursday night, with the second one not coming until there was 6:36 left to go in the game.

Browns QB Dillon Gabriel moved the ball at will, missing just three passes as he completed 12-of-15 for 186 yards and 3 touchdowns against New England’s defense.

It was tough to watch, and the secondary didn’t seem to have any answers. To make matters worse, there really weren’t a lot of guys who made much of a lasting impression, and Vrabel said after the game that when they get back, the next question is going to be who they’ll be working with after the team makes its final roster cuts this weekend.

“Not good enough,” said Vrabel. “I mean, we got a couple of sudden change stops, forced them to kick field goals, which I think is always positive. But, I just … not good enough. Couldn’t match the speed of the quarterback in a zone read and some of those things. But we’ll get back to work and figure out who we’re going to get back to work with.”

Aug 27, 2026; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; New England Patriots wide receiver Kyle Dixon (83) catches a pass in front of Cleveland Browns defensive back Jeremiah McClendon (47) during the second half at Huntington Bank Field. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images — **Patriots WR Kyle Dixon. (PHOTO: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images)**

Dixon Quietly Shines

On a positive note, one of the few players who stepped up was wide receiver Kyle Dixon, who quietly had a solid performance offensively. He caught all eight of his targets Thursday night and finished the game with 8 catches for 71 yards.

Dixon had a nice grab for 19 yards on a good route where Behren Morton hit him on a perfect strike early in the first half that helped set up a 26-yard field goal by Andy Borregales. He later also helped move the chains on the team’s final drive of the first half on a 2nd-and-6, with Dixon hauling in a six-yard pass that extended the drive deep into Browns territory.

That eventually led to another field goal by Borregales, this time from 33 yards out, to send them into the half down 27-13.

It wasn’t otherworldly by any means, but Dixon was at least one of the few players who was consistent on a night where few others fell into that category.

Borregales With a Nice Finish, Haack Steps Up

Borregales hitting both of his field goals was good to see, with the kicker seemingly settling in after a rough stretch.

Joining him Thursday night was newcomer Matt Haack, who was signed this week to fill in for Bryce Baringer, who suffered an injury last week. Haack held on both of Borregales’ field goal attempts and an extra point attempt, and it appeared that everything went smoothly.

He also had a good night punting the football, including two kicks where he pinned the Browns in at their own 2-yard line on back-to-back punts. He finished the night punting 4 times for 186 yards, with three landing inside the 20.

There’s yet to be much word on just how long Baringer may be out, but Haack played well enough where he should be able to hold things down until Baringer is healthy. He may also end up pushing Baringer for the spot, if he can string together some more performances like this one.

Frustrating Night For Woods

It was not a good night for cornerback Charles Woods, who certainly didn’t play his best football.

Woods has been the top backup at cornerback behind both Christian Gonzalez and Carlton Davis, with the veteran also being a key contributor on special teams. However, his effort Thursday night certainly wasn’t great.

He gave up a couple of big plays where it felt like he wasn’t giving his best, including one play where it looked like the Browns caught him sleeping and he gave up a 29-yard catch-and-run, and then later followed that up on the same drive by allowing a 10-yard reception on a 3rd-and-9.

The Browns finished that possession off with a touchdown, extending their lead to 27-10 with 2:32 left in the half.

For a player who was out there matched up against second- and third-string players, he unfortunately played down to their level, and it was ugly, to say the least.

Aug 27, 2026; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; New England Patriots quarterback Behren Morton (15) surveys the field against the Cleveland Browns during the first half at Huntington Bank Field. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images — **(PHOTO: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images)**

Rough Night For Morton

Behren Morton had his family in Cleveland to cheer him on, and the rookie ended up with a rough night.

He had some bad luck to kick things off after he rolled out on his first series and was looking for C.J. Dippre, who was engaged as a blocker. Morton tried to throw it behind him at his feet as a throwaway, but the ball hit the back of Dippre’s leg and bounced into the air, and it ended up getting picked off before the ball hit the ground.

He also had a shot at a big play after Dixon’s 19-yard reception, after he had Nick DeGennaro wide open streaking up the sideline, but Morton overthrew him. He also had a few plays where he was late getting the ball out, including one where, after the offense went for it on 4th-and-2 from their own 44 with just under 3 minutes left in the game, he didn’t see DeGennaro on a 4th-and-2 play until it was too late.

With pressure bearing down on him, he ended up getting picked, and the Browns then took it back 36 yards the other way, which they converted into a field goal.

It was disappointing because he did have a couple of nice moments, including one on a series where he was under duress but kept his cool and even became animated at one point where he had to get one of his guys lined up correctly ahead of a 3rd-and-1, which they converted. That played a role during their final drive before the end of the half, which ended in a field goal.

Overall, Morton had seemed to build some momentum coming off of last week, but he definitely took a big step backward. He finished the night 18-of-28 (64.3%) for 123 yards and 2 interceptions.

Vrabel Makes Interesting Revelation with Boutte

After not having had a chance to speak following the trade of Kayshon Boutte, Vrabel made an interesting revelation on the former wideout.

According to Vrabel, one of the key reasons why Boutte became the odd man out of the group was due to the fact that he didn’t play special teams. Vrabel then added that it likely would have left Boutte in a tough spot on game day where the wide receiver might not have been active.

“It was one place where we do have some depth and, I think for all parties involved, that was probably the best thing,” said Vrabel. “Without injuries, Kayshon probably would have been inactive. Unfortunately, that just- it’s kind of the way it was. It’s just with him not playing special teams. … And I’ve tried to thank Kayshon as many times as I could. I texted him again today.”

Vrabel went on to praise Boutte for his courage in writing the article in the Player’s Tribune back in January when it came to his battle with gambling, which he felt was something that will likely help “a lot of people.”

“Just his maturity, his growth, his ability to put into words last year and share his own personal struggle, but also the growth that he made from that, that’s positively going to affect a lot of people. I know that that wasn’t easy for him to do. And I tell him all the time about how much I respect him for being able to do that.”

Odds and Ends

Vrabel did something different on Thursday night with Ashton Grant getting to call plays for the offense as Josh McDaniels sat upstairs in the booth and observed. Vrabel said after the game that Grant had earned the opportunity, and he was thankful to be able to give it to him. “Just give Ashton an opportunity,” said Vrabel. Josh has called plenty of games in the National Football League, and we think Ashton is a very, very good young offensive football coach. And I try to look for places to be able to give other coaches opportunities and felt like this was a good time for it.” … Kyle Williams came up with another big play, hauling in a 45-yard touchdown early in the game where he toyed with the defensive back, who had absolutely no shot. He’s had a terrific preseason, and with both A.J. Brown and Romeo Doubs, it should be interesting to see what type of opportunities he might see during the regular season. … With so many frontline players sitting out, Vrabel told reporters after the game that the goal was just to try and make sure they came out as healthy as possible ahead of the start of the regular season. “I just think that it’s best for us right now to try to start next week with the guys that we have,” said Vrabel. “And I know that’s a difficult decision. I don’t think there’s a right or wrong answer. And so we have to just continue to try to prepare the football team the best that we can. And I just wanted to try to get to the regular season with the guys that we had.” … Vrabel added that they have some difficult decisions to make with both Harold Landry and Brenden Schooler, who he stayed back in New England. “I think we’ll just continue to see when we get back,” said Vrabel. “They have to be able to pass certain things because, once you take them off [of their respective designations], that’s kind of what it is. And so, we just want to be very careful and smart with them and not force them into anything. But, on the same note, if they can do and relatively perform where we expect them to and where they expect themselves to, that could be a possibility that we could be able to bring those guys off.” … With cutdowns now ahead Vrabel added that there will be some difficult decisions coming, which as a former player, he certainly understands what it’s like. “Well, you put a lot of time in with guys, and then you hope that they give you everything that they have,” he said. “And it’s not easy, but it’s a tough part of this business. You want to try to be as respectful to them. Some of these players that we move on from, we’ll bring back on the practice squad. And I think for the most part, these guys, they gave us everything they had, and we’ll treat them the same way.”

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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