Mike Vrabel sat out most of his projected starters for the preseason finale against the New York Giants.
So why did safety Jabrill Peppers play the entire first quarter? Ditto defensive end Keion White?
Vrabel was asked about those two players specifically following the Patriots woeful 42-10 loss, and provided an explanation on both counts.
Peppers?
Apparently, Vrabel hasn’t seen enough of Peppers and rookie Craig Woodson playing in tandem. He also said he needed to field eleven players.
“Pep’s played a couple of different spots and I wanted to just see him play safety alongside Craig,” Vrabel said. “He’s played some nickel, he’s played some in-the-box on third down, he’s played in different places and tonight where we wanted to see him was alongside Craig playing safety exclusively.”
As for White, he played and struggled trying to generate a pass rush against second and third stringers.
Why was he out there?
“I talked to Keion and wanted to see him work on some things and continue to develop, and try to continue to improve,” Vrabel said. “He was excited about playing, and wanted to play more.
“That’s kind of our whole job, is to be ready to play and prepare until told otherwise. So just continue to work on some things we’ve been talking about and do it in game action.”
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