Patriots Rumors: New Details On Surprising Christian Barmore Suspension

It wasn’t all good vibes during the Patriots’ blowout win over the Browns on Sunday.

Star defensive tackle Christian Barmore was benched for the entire first quarter of New England’s 32-13 home victory over Cleveland. Barmore entered the game for the Browns’ third drive and, from that point forward, saw his typical workload. When the dust settled, Barmore racked up a team-high four quarterback pressures, per Pro Football Focus, and saw 30 snaps, second-most among Patriots defensive tackles.

That’s great and all, but what about the benching?

New England head coach Mike Vrabel gave a mysterious answer when asked about Barmore’s benching.

“I had to make a decision,” Vrabel told reporters after the game. “My job is to protect the team, so when there’s actions that I don’t feel like are (in line) with what we want to do here, I’ve got to make a decision, and we move on.”

Vrabel’s comments generated concerns among Patriots fans, but Boston Sports Journal’s Greg Bedard lowered the temperature in a story published Sunday evening.

“From what I’ve been told, the infraction was fairly harmless, so we’ll see how it goes,” Bedard wrote.

Barmore declined to speak with reporters after the game, so we’re left to speculate about his infraction. Perhaps it was as minor as being late to a meeting or losing his cool at practice, but we won’t know for sure until he, Vrabel, or reporters reveal the truth.

Nevertheless, Barmore was one of the Patriots’ best players in the first eight games despite posting zero sacks. His 25 pressures rank third-most on the team behind K’Lavon Chaisson and Harold Landry III, and he still hasn’t committed a penalty.

Barmore and the Patriots will host the Atlanta Falcons this Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.