Patriots News: Preseason spotlights Vrabel’s fight to the depth

FOXBOROUGH, MASSACHUSETTS - AUGUST 13: Tanner Arkin #84 of the New England Patriots runs with the ball prior to an NFL preseason football game against the Indianapolis Colts at Gillette Stadium on August 13, 2026 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Photo by Michael Owens/Getty Images) | Getty Images

Preseason Week 2 was entertaining. Fans tune in with the underlying questions being, How does my team look?" and Does this roster look like it can win enough games to get to the playoffs?" Watching a game with backups vs. backups isn't the ideal way to answer either of those questions, to assess positional depth, or even get an overall feeling of confidence that concerns have been addressed.

But here we are, assessing the team anyway and trying to extrapolate from what we saw to Week 1 and the entire season ahead. It's what we do. Mike Vrabel knows what he's looking for, and needs to see, from each player on the field. He knows who's banged up already, and the Marcus Bryant injury Saturday night didn't help. He expressed that he's worried about how thin the roster is behind the starters. Me too.

Some years, it's the team that's the healthiest in January that has the best shot to win the Super Bowl. As an example, the 2015 Patriots were a juggernaut, starting 10-0 before injuries derailed the team. They finished the year with 19 players on injured reserve. Depth matters. The season may rest on how solidly the Pats' backups can hold up and contribute this year.

TEAM TALK

• Post Game Notes:Game-winning drive bolsters Patriots' victory over Eagles. Rookie WR Nick DeGennaro caught a 37-yard game-winning touchdown pass from QB Behren Morton; More.
• Game Observations: 9 takeaways from the preseason victory over the Eagles. 1. Player of the Game: QB/Punter Behren Morton leads the Patriots to victory; More.
• Post Game Quotes:Patriots and Eagles.
• Post Game Pressers:Mike Vrabel - Tommy DeVito, Kyle Williams, Caleb Lomu, Behren Morton, Nick DeGennaro, Efton Chism III, Lan Larison, Hassan Haskins, and Gabe Jacas.
• Patriots Postgame Show:Patriots vs. Eagles preseason Week 2 breakdown. (1 hr, 45 min.)
• Mic'd Up:Milton Williams and Rhamondre Stevenson at joint practices with Eagles. (5 min. video)

LOCAL LINKS

• Mark Daniels reports the Patriots need to find a new punter after Bryce Baringer suffers injury.
• Mike Reiss shares some quick-hit weekend thoughts: Will Campbell leaning into advice from top linemen, Will Drake Maye play next week?, Christian Gonzalez update, OL injuries mount [sigh], Josh McDaniels' insight; More.
• Steve Balestrieri's Sunday Patriots News: Patriots and Eagles wrap up a good week. Overall, the Patriots looked evenly matched with Philadelphia. There still remain questions about the team's ability to run the ball and stop the run, where some of their depth players got extended looks in practice; More.
• Chris Mason gives us everything we need to know from the Pats' comeback win over Eagles.
• Mark Morse picks out the Good, Bad, and Ugly from the Patriots 24-21 comeback win.
• Doug Kyed thumbnails the best and worst: What we learned from the Pats' Week 2 preseason performance.
• Mark Daniels tells us how rookie QB Behren Morton became an emergency punter and then threw the game-winning touchdown.
• Hector Longo highlights Mike Vrabel laying down the challenge to rookie Gabe Jacas after a tough night.
• Ethan Hurwitz notes second-year WR Kyle Williams caught his second TD of the preseason, and he's starting to get open consistently. His speed might earn him a roster spot.
• Hector Longo identifies four questions the secondary must answer in 2026: Gonzalez, Davis and Jones all enter Week 1 banged up, and the secondary still hasn't replaced the free safety it lost when McCourty retired.
• Karen Guregian says that while the Pats may be able to beat anyone with their group of starters, the roster is pretty thin in some vital areas.
• Ethan Hurwitz mentions the RB3 competition with another interesting wrinkle following Saturday's win.
• Hector Longo spotlights four Patriots whose stock rose after preseason Week 2: RB Hassan Haskins, QB Behren Morton, LB Namdi Obiazor and WR Efton Chism.
• Ethan Hurwitz looks at the four undrafted wide receivers who contributed against the Eagles.
• Pete Collins' 53-man roster projection: Mike Vrabel's blunt assessment raises a question about New England's depth.
• Patriots Beat podcast:Alex Barth and Brian Hines recap the Pats' win, depth issues, more. (50 min.)
• All 32 NFL podcast:Mike Giardi breaks down Pats-Eagles, Caleb Lomu progressing, and who Mike Vrabel was referring to with his strong comments. (35 min.)

NATIONAL NEWS

• NFL Nation (ESPN) Preseason Week 2: Game takeaways, analysis. Patriots-Eagles included. Did veteran cornerbackKindle Vildorplay his way onto the roster?
• Around the NFL (NFL.com) Preseason, Week 2: What we learned from Saturday's games. Patriots 3rd-string QB Behren Morton shows he can punt; Eagles' second-string OL unit mashed Patriots backups and pushed New England off the ball repeatedly, opening massive holes in the ground game. /Eesh...
• Eric Edholm (Yahoo! Sports) Preseason Week 2: Browns QB mess, nervous time for Raiders; 9 key takeaways.
• Garrett Podell and Zachary Pereles (CBS Sports) Preseason Week 2 winners and losers. Winners: Geno Smith, Jets defense. No Pats.
• Bryan DeArdo (CBS Sports) Mike Vrabel makes surprising admission about Patriots: I don't think we have a very deep team.'
• Mike Florio (ProFootballTalk) Eliot Wolf on Christian Gonzalez: Each side is trying to do what's right for them."
• Josh Edwards (CBS Sports) Patriots TE Tanner Arkin among undrafted NFL rookies making noise in training camp and the preseason.
• Mike Kadlick (SI) Risers and fallers from preseason Week 2: How Deshaun Watson may have coughed up Browns' QB1 job.
• Carter Bahns (CBS Sports) NFL preseason Week 2 overreactions: Shedeur Sanders will start for Browns, Jets' defense is fixed [overreaction].
• Ben Arthur, et al (FOX Sports) Best CBs in the NFL: Is Pat Surtain II still the league's best cornerback? Christian Gonzalez no. 3.