How Kyle Dugger, Keion White Fared In Their First Games With New Teams

New England Patriots fans spent much of their Sunday afternoon anxiously watching to see if their favorite team would be able to hold onto a win over the Atlanta Falcons. However, folks were also keeping tabs on old friends Kyle Dugger and Keion White after they were traded last week.

The Pats managed to hold on and pick up a hard-fought 24-23 victory over the Falcons, and as it turns out, both Dugger and White earned wins on Sunday, too. Dugger helped the Pittsburgh Steelers pick up an upset victory over the Indianapolis Colts, while White chipped in during the San Francisco 49ers’ win over the New York Giants.

Both Dugger and White fell out of favor with Mike Vrabel and New England’s new coaching staff, but in the right system, they could be valuable players. In Week 9, Dugger started and racked up four tackles for the Steelers, while White failed to record a single statistic after coming off the bench for the Niners.

“Former Patriots in their debuts with new teams:

???? S Kyle Dugger (29): Starts, plays 77 of 78 snaps, totals 4 tackles (1 solo, 3 assisted) in Steelers’ 27-20 win over Colts

???? DE Keion White (56): Backup, plays 33 of 57 snaps, no official stats in 49ers’ 34-24 win over Giants,” Mike Reiss of ESPN shared in a post on X.

Considering how both of these guys only had a couple of days to learn their new teams’ playbook, it’s impressive that they were able to play, or in Dugger’s case, start on such short notice. As time goes on, their roles should only continue to grow.

The Patriots didn’t miss either Dugger or White on Sunday afternoon, but it’s fair to wonder if they could look to add some defensive reinforcements before the trade deadline slams shut. In the meantime, the team will begin preparing for their Week 10 contest with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.