Vrabel explains why he kept playing Stevenson after Patriots RB’s fumbles

New England Patriots

“Watching back from the film from before I got here, there was nobody who protected the quarterback or his teammates more than Rhamondre.”

By Conor Roche

January 24, 2026 | 1:13 PM

2 minutes to read

When Rhamondre Stevenson went through his fumbling struggles early in the regular season, Mike Vrabel felt he had a responsibility to let the Patriots running back play his way out of those mistakes based on his previous work.

In an interview with CBS Sports’ Bill Cowher, Vrabel explained he had given Stevenson another chance because of the way Stevenson protected his teammates prior to the 2025 season.

“Those are mistakes. Those aren’t conscious decisions. Those were mistakes,” Vrabel told Cowher. “You can coach mistakes. You can fix mistakes. You can coach things. And Rhamondre, I always said watching back from the film from before I got here, there was nobody who protected the quarterback or his teammates more than Rhamondre.

“So, yup, it’s easy to target the guy that fumbled. But there’s also a lot of instances early on where guys weren’t protecting the guy with the ball. I think it’s my job to make sure when it comes to each and every case, you try to treat guys the way they treat the team.”

Vrabel didn’t mention any examples of Stevenson protecting the quarterback or his teammates in his interview with Cowher. However, Stevenson has received strong marks for his blocking ability. Pro Football Focus gave him a 70.5 pass blocking grade this season and a 72.7 pass blocking grade in 2023.

Stevenson also took accountability for his fumbling woes in September after he lost two crucial fumbles in the Patriots’ Week 3 loss to the Steelers. At the time, Stevenson had five lost fumbles since the start of the 2024 season, which was the most in the league.

Stevenson has been pretty protective of the ball since that Week 3 loss. He’s only fumbled once since then and hasn’t fumbled in any of his last 11 games.

There was one occasion, though, where Vrabel wasn’t happy with the way Stevenson was carrying the ball. He called out the running back for the way he ran into the end zone for a touchdown in the Patriots’ Week 7 win over the Titans.

But that might be the only blemish Stevenson has had over the last few months. He has 619 yards of total offense over the Patriots’ last six games, adding six touchdowns over that stretch.

So, Vrabel’s faith in Stevenson has been rewarded. That isn’t a surprise to the Patriots’ head coach, though, as he told Cowher, who coached Vrabel when he was with the Steelers, that he felt the team was going to rely on Stevenson at some point this season as they prepare to play the Broncos in the AFC Championship Game.

“I felt like that was something where we were going to need Rhamondre. We were going to need his skillset,” Vrabel said. “We were going to need his protection. We were going to need his ball production and everything else. A lot of examples, and I try to do what I feel like is right at the time.””