Perry: How should the Patriots replace Christian Barmore? Originally published on NBC Sports Boston
The New England Patriots will be without one of their most important defensive players for the foreseeable future.
The team announced Sunday that defensive tackle Christian Barmore was diagnosed with a blood clot over the weekend and has no timetable for his return. Patriots center David Andrews missed the entire 2019 season after being diagnosed with a blood clot in his lungs.
It’s unclear how long Barmore will be out, but New England must prepare to go most or all of the 2024 season without the standout defender. Coach Jerrod Mayo was asked Monday about finding a replacement for Barmore.
“We’ll see,” he said. “Today is the first day with pads on and it’s easy to say, ‘This guy can do it, that guy can do it,’ but a guy like Barmore, no matter how disruptive he is, it’s hard to have the same kind of production. But the other guys, even though it’s not a normal injury, they’ve got to treat it like a normal injury and bounce back. It’s the next guy.”
Mayo acknowledged it will take a team effort to find a replacement for the former 2021 second-round pick from Alabama. The team also may need to find a replacement for star outside linebacker Matthew Judon, who missed Monday’s practice due to a contract dispute with the team.
NBC Sports Boston’s Phil Perry talked about the Patriots’ difficult defensive situation on Monday’s episode. Training Camp Central.
“What does that mean? How do they prepare with Christian Barmore being the best player on the team?” Perry asked. “Specifically, there could be questions regarding Matthew Judon’s availability. How do they make up for that loss on the defensive end, however long it lasts? Daniel Equelle? Armon Watts, who they acquired in free agency this offseason?”
“They don’t have a one-for-one replacement, something that coach Jerrod Mayo acknowledged today. They don’t know how to replace him because he’s so disruptive from the inside. It’s very difficult to game plan for a guy like him, so in my opinion, when you have a guy like him out it makes things a lot more difficult for the rest of the defense, not just the defensive line, but the entire defense, every level.”
Perry believes Barmore’s absence will not only put added pressure on the defense, but it will also put first-year head coach Mayo in a tough position without the help of several defensive geniuses who left the team during the offseason.
“I’m thinking about the little things,” he added. “Not only do we lose Bill Belichick, who we know can do it defensively, but we also lose Steve Belichick, who sat in a dark room and helped Jerrod Mayo create a lot of the exotic pressure that the Patriots were able to exert.”
“When you have a guy like Christian Barmore on the field, you don’t have to do as much. How much more do you have to strategize when he’s gone or out? How much do you have to rely on your ability to figure things out in the dirt on game day or even matchup week against a particular opponent? And how do they handle it without Steve Belichick, the guy who anchored last year’s defense?”
Barmore, who turned 25 on Sunday, recorded 64 tackles (13 for loss) and 8.5 sacks last season in his third season in the NFL. He signed a four-year, $92 million contract extension with the Patriots in April.
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