Mike Vrabel benched Christian Barmore to ‘protect’ the Patriots

Patriots coach Mike Vrabel kept it real while explaining his reasoning for benching star defensive tackle Christian Barmore for the entire first quarter of New England’s 32-13 home victory over Cleveland on Sunday.

“I just had to make a decision. My job’s to protect the team,” Vrabel said during his postgame press conference when asked about Barmore’s benching. “So when there are 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.”

Vrabel did not explain further.

Barmore, who declined to speak after the game in New England’s locker room, finished with one tackle and a team-high four quarterback pressures while playing 30 snaps in the win.

Barmore — signed a four-year, $84 million contract extension with New England in April 2024 — has played 65 percent of New England’s defensive snaps entering Sunday’s game against Cleveland. 

There didn’t appear to be any animosity between the pair, as they embraced in the tunnel after the win.

Vrabel individually congratulated his players on the victory while they made they their to the locker room at Gillette Stadium, as seen in a video the Patriots shared on X.

It’s unclear exactly what happened with Barmore.

“From what I’ve been told, the infraction was fairly harmless, so we’ll see how it goes,” Boston Sports Journal’s Greg Bedard said in a story published Sunday night.