There's major Patriots news heading into Sunday's game vs. the Rams at Gillette Stadium: standout DT Christian Barmore has been activated off the non-football illness list and is expected to play this week.
On Saturday, New England officially activated the stud defensive tackle from the non-football illness list and released WR Tyquan Thornton to make room for Barmore on the 53-man roster. Thornton will now go on waivers. If he clears waivers, he could return on the practice squad. The Patriots also elevated linebackers Joe Giles-Harris and Keshawn Banks from the practice squad for Week 11.
Starting with Barmore, the Patriots defense will get a massive boost with the 25-year-old returning from blood clots that team doctors discovered in late July. According to reports, Barmore had bruising in his calf and was sent by head athletic trainer Jim Whalen for further testing. Luckily, Whalen's heightened awareness of clotting issues from captain David Andrews's blood clots in 2019 allowed for an early diagnosis with Barmore.
Due to the early diagnosis, it opened the door for Barmore to return this season, unlike Andrews, who missed the entire 2019 season. It's an incredible recovery story for Barmore, who deserves credit for working his way back, and kudos to Whalen and the Patriots medical staff for getting Barmore immediate treatment. Most importantly, from an overall health perspective.
As for the football side, the Pats interior defender practiced for the first time since his diagnosis on Thursday. However, Barmore didn't practice on Friday and is officially listed as questionable on the team's final injury report. The Patriots coaching staff has tried to slow down the hype for Barmore's season debut all week, with head coach Jerod Mayo addressing a realistic ramp-up period for New England's star defender.
"For a guy who hasn't who hasn't really put on pads since January, it's tough. You never want to just throw a guy out there coming off an injury, regardless of what the injury is, and throw him out there for 50 plays. That's unrealistic. I think we see what he can handle and we'll go from there," Coach Mayo told Patriots.com on Friday.
Last season, Barmore was the Patriots best player, and the team rewarded him with a lucrative four-year contract extension. He led the team with 8.5 sacks and 49 pressures while ranking seventh among interior defensive linemen with 32 run stops in 2023. Furthermore, New England ranks 26th in team pressure rate (31.3%) and dead-last in pressure rate generated by a four-man pass rush (24.8%) this season. The Pats were 24th (33.8%) and 26th (31%) respectively in those metrics with Barmore in the lineup a year ago.
As a high-end interior pass rusher, Barmore elevates the Patriots four-man pass rush significantly, which allows the defense to disrupt quarterbacks without blitzing. According to NextGen Stats, New England generates pressure at a rate of 45.1% when it blitzes compared to 24% when it doesn't blitz, the second-biggest discrepancy in the NFL. That's not necessarily where you want to be as a defense because blitzing takes defenders out of coverage.
Before we get too ahead of ourselves, as Coach Mayo said, it's unrealistic for Barmore to play anywhere close to his 65.9% snap rate from last season out of the gate. Along with recovering from a severe illness, Barmore hasn't played since last January, so there will need to be some patience as he works his way back into game shape.
That said, even if he can contribute as a situational pass rusher, that'll be a significant upgrade for a Patriots defense coming off a nine-sack performance in last week's win over the Bears. On average, defenses play 10-15 third-down snaps per game, which seems like a good place to start for Barmore. A pressure package featuring Barmore and second-year DL Keion White has to excite Patriots fans. Plus, veteran pass-rusher Yannick Ngakoue is expected to make his Pats debut, while edge rusher Anfernee Jennings is improving as a pass rusher.
The Patriots defense is trying to turn the corner for a second-half-of-the-season surge. New England ranks 30th in defense DVOA through 10 weeks. With Barmore back in the mix and the defense coming off a great performance in Chicago, it's a chance for the defense to hit its stride.
Although it's great news that Barmore is returning, the other side of Saturday's transactions is that the Patriots are moving on from former second-round pick Tyquan Thornton. New England had seven wide receivers on its 53-man roster before Saturday, so it made sense that they'd release a player from that room to create a roster spot when needed. The Pats remaining wideouts are Kendrick Bourne, Kayshon Boutte, DeMario Douglas, K.J. Osborn, Ja'Lynn Polk, and Javon Baker.
In 2022, New England traded up to the 50th overall pick to select the speedy Thornton, who was supposed to bring a field-stretching element with a class-best 4.28-second 40-yard dash. However, Thornton's skill set didn't translate to the NFL level, ending his three-year run with the Patriots with 39 career catches for 385 yards and two touchdowns.
Thornton's 6-2, 185-pound frame didn't hold up to the rigors of pro football in more ways than one. Mainly, he struggled to stay healthy. Second, the slender receiver has had issues uncovering against physical coverage and finishing through contact. There were also route-running and ball-tracking issues. Ultimately, Thornton was a failed draft pick. He had moments in camp practices where you saw some ability, and it appeared he had earned a role as a deep threat this summer, but it didn't continue into the regular season. Now, the question is who was chiefly responsible for the Thornton pick and how do the Patriots learn from it?
We can debate how much responsibility the new personnel department bears on picks made under their old boss. However, the bottom line is that this team has struggled to evaluate talent in the draft at wide receiver. Thornton joins other recent misses like N'Keal Harry (first round, 2019), and although it's premature to call them whiffs, rookies Ja'Lynn Polk and Javon Baker have 11 combined catches through 10 games.
With the Patriots hoping to build around promising rookie QB Drake Maye, they must figure out a way to get impact receivers through the draft. It's the easiest and most efficient way to find high-end talent. Otherwise, you're giving up draft capital and/or paying top-of-market value for veterans who may not be blue-chip talents, especially in free agency.
Next, the Patriots didn't activate CB Alex Austin (ankle) from injured reserve this week. The club has until Wednesday (Nov. 20) to activate Austin, or his 21-day window will close, ending his season. The sticking point for Austin is creating an active roster spot. Someone else has to be released if he's activated, which is an added layer.
Lastly, the Patriots elevated linebackers Joe Giles-Harris and Keshawn Banks from the practice squad for Sunday's game. Giles-Harris is now out of standard elevations, meaning the team will need to sign Giles-Harris to the 53-man roster for him to play in games after this week. Giles-Harris played 19 snaps on special teams and eight snaps on defense in the second half of last week's win.
Elevating two linebackers signals that the team is uncertain about Elliss (abdomen) and Sione Takitaki's (knee) status for Sunday's game; both linebackers are listed as questionable for Week 11. Elliss didn't play last week due to his abdomen injury, while Takitaki left last Sunday's win in the second half and didn't practice in Wednesday's padded practice.
On Friday, Elliss and Takitaki participated in drills during the media-access portion of practice. Hopefully, that means they're trending toward playing. Takitaki was serviceable last week, which is a step forward for the spot next to starter Jahlani Tavai. From this perspective, it's not a coincidence that Tavai had his best game of the year, with Takitaki being reliable next to him on the second level of the defense.
As for Banks, the second-year edge rusher is viewed more as an on-the-line linebacker than an inside linebacker. His elevation could also point to uncertainty surrounding veteran DE Deatrich Wise's (foot) status. After not practicing this week, Wise is officially questionable for Sunday's game.
New England is looking for its first two-game winning streak in nearly two years on Sunday. The last time the Patriots won multiple games in a row was a three-game winning streak in 2022. After a big win over the Bears last week, it's about stacking wins for HC Jerod Mayo's team.
The Patriots host the Rams with kickoff at 1 p.m. ET at Gillette Stadium on Sunday.
DISCLAIMER: The views and thoughts expressed in this article are those of the writer and don't necessarily reflect those of the organization. Read Full Disclaimer
