For the second straight week when New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel was asked about rookie edge Gabe Jacas, the boss quickly pivoted to special teams talk.
It was not exactly a vote of confidence for the second-round draft choice, following his three quarters of zero solo tackles and no quarterback pressures against the Philadelphia Eagles reserves.
Coach pulls no punches
“I think just still inconsistent. I think that the effort is certainly there. The willingness. He is a very coachable player,” said Vrabel after the Patriots’ 24-21 preseason win.
“We are just putting a lot on him right now as far as special teams and covering kicks and playing on kick return. We have to be able to see what he can do and what we, maybe what we feel like we can count on when the regular season comes.”
Jacas saw a bundle of snaps.
Unblocked on the play, he hit Eagles backup QB Andy Dalton once in the second quarter and drew a 15-yard roughing the passer flag to negate a Kindle Vildor interception.
Other than that, Philly had no issues running right at Jacas with solid success.
Head-scratching response from Jacas
Asked twice about how he had improved through his time on the field in camp, Jacas first talked about special teams, and playing on all four — kick and punt team, kick and punt return.
He then added: “Just speed of the game, first and foremost. Just coming off the ball aggressive, recognizing the backfield sets, and getting on keys pre-snap and what I can anticipate before the ball is snapped. So, that alone right there just allows me to play faster and a lot more physical. So, those are things that I’ll say for myself that I’ve improved on.”
With Harold Landry injured, there is a major need at edge rusher. Jacas is being counted on to fill that void.
He’ll get right back to work
Vrabel isn’t about to give up on Jacas.
“I think he will just continue to improve because he has that type of attitude, and he is willing, and I know he will get back to work real quick,” the coach said.
Still, Saturday night’s performance was not very encouraging.
