With the New England Patriots taking on the Cleveland Browns in a Week 8 matchup this upcoming Sunday, there is no doubt a standard being built by head coach Mike Vrabel. After Vrabel led the Patriots to beat the Tennessee Titans, his former team, he would call out running back Rhamondre Stevenson recently while watching film.
Subsequently, in the third quarter, Stevenson would score a four-yard touchdown that was part of a productive game for the veteran running back, who carried the ball 18 times for 88 yards to go along with the score. However, Vrabel would look at the play again during a YouTube video from the team themselves covering the Tennessee win, and called out Stevenson for not having full control of the ball.
“What we can't do is we can't do this,” Vrabel said as he pointed to Stevenson in the clip. “Like we can't sit there and be careless with the football. We're not going to see it anymore. We're not going to start doing this; we're not going to start becoming a team that, you know, gives the other team an advantage of whatever may happen. They don't get in line correctly, we need to score, and we need to make sure that we're securing the football.”
#Patriots HC Mike Vrabel pointed out that Rhamondre Stevenson started celebrating by sticking out the ball before crossing the goal line last week:
“We can’t sit there and be careless with the ball. … We’re not gonna see it anymore.”
(via @Patriots YT) pic.twitter.com/2r9rb396HT
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) October 24, 2025
Patriots' Mike Vrabel on the running back room
While fans and probably fantasy football owners are wondering about Patriots rookie TreVeyon Henderson, since he only got two carries, Vrabel would give insight into the running back room. Vrabel said earlier this week that the game “played out” that Stevenson was playing well, but Henderson will play a “large part,” according to Sports Illustrated's Mike Kadlick.
“It's just kinda how it played out. Thought Rhamondre was running well,” Vrabel said. “Had some good protections. TreVeyon's gonna be a large part of what we do … that's just kind of where it was this week.”
At any rate, it remains to be seen what the usage will be like for New England's running back room as the team looks for its fifth straight win on Sunday against the Browns.
