When the New England Patriots' defense took the field for the first time midway through the first quarter on Sunday, it was noticeable that starting defensive tackle Christian Barmore did not take the field with the team. In fact, Barmore didn’t get on the field at all in the first quarter.
It was odd to see Barmore on the sidelines to start the game, but it didn’t cross my mind as potentially being something nefarious until head coach Mike Vrabel was asked about it during his postgame press conference.
“I had to make a decision," Vrabel said, via Mark Daniels of MassLive.com. "My job is to protect the team. When there’s actions that I don’t feel like are commensurate with what we want to do here, I gotta make a decision and we move on.”
Patriots Starting DT Benched in First Quarter as a Discipline, Made Example to Team
There wasn’t a follow-up question after Vrabel’s response, and Barmore didn’t speak to the media after the game. That said, it’s still unknown what the violation was, but it triggered immediate discipline for Barmore from Vrabel.
Once Barmore made it into the game during the second quarter, he resumed his dominant presence on the defensive line. Although he only finished the game with one tackle, he was part of the drive that forced an intentional grounding and safety in the fourth quarter.
The Patriots have always had high expectations for Barmore after drafting him in the second round in 2021 and signing him to a four-year, $83 million contract extension in 2024. He’s shown to be at the top of his position and a true asset for the Patriots when he’s playing to his potential.
This isn’t the first time that Barmore has had an off-field incident in the last year. In October of last year, Barmore was pulled over in Providence, RI, and cited for multiple traffic violations after driving an unregistered vehicle, having a cover that made his license plates unreadable, and driving with an expired registration.
It's worth mentioning, though, that there have been a few other incidents from players on the team that haven’t resulted in disciplinary actions, at least not made public knowledge. It is worth wondering what Barmore did that would’ve forced Vrabel to bench him for the entire first quarter.