"Among the most dire of problems continues to be their secondary, which has struggled in Christian Gonzalez's absence. It looked like the cornerback would make his season debut this week, as he returned to practice for the first time since July 28, but he was ruled out on Saturday and will have to wait until, at least, next week to help his teammates lock down some of the top receivers in the league."
"It was an unfortunate development that is proving to be costly, as Alex Austin has started in his place and has had a rough game against the Steelers. He was hit with two costly penalties on third down in the first half, which allowed the Steelers to go down and score. That has apparently led Mike Vrabel to decide to bench the cornerback in favor of Charles Woods, but he's not the only one who is now on the sideline."
"The struggles of the linebackers have been well documented so far this season, with the biggest culprits being Christian Elliss and Robert Spillane. Their missed tackles lead the league, and they have allowed far too much yardage for a defense to be okay with. Some of those struggles have continued into this week, which seems to have forced Vrabel to also bench Elliss in the third quarter."
Through Week 3 of the 2025 season the Patriots have experienced roster instability marked by injuries, penalties, and inconsistent play. The secondary remains undermanned without cornerback Christian Gonzalez, who returned to practice but was ruled out and will miss at least another week. Alex Austin started in Gonzalez's place and committed two costly third-down penalties that helped the Steelers score. Head coach Mike Vrabel replaced Austin with Charles Woods and also benched linebacker Christian Elliss in the third quarter. Linebacker missed tackles and excessive yardage allowed have prompted benchings as a method of accountability.
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