New England Patriots
“He was just like, ‘I’m tired of seeing you getting blocked,'” Jacas said.
Gabe Jacas David L. Ryan/Globe Staff
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Gabe Jacas posted five tackles in his Patriots debut and put pressure on Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson that helped lead to an interception.
Indianapolis was able to run the read option successfully to Jacas’s side on a couple of occasions, but the rookie also showed flashes of being able to set an edge and get after the quarterback. He also played a role on the Patriots’ kickoff unit.
Patriots coach Mike Vrabel was asked Thursday night how he would evaluate Jacas’s performance.
“I will probably have to watch it. I’m not going to talk too much,” Vrabel said. “I challenged him on a kickoff, and he made a tackle. I didn’t think that his efforts were maybe good enough on the kickoff.”
“I didn’t expect that the guy that was blocking him to be able to block him, and then I challenged him, and he came up with a tackle on the kickoff. So that was a positive, and then we’ll just keep coaching him just like the rest of the guys.”
Jacas reached for one of his braids and moved it back when asked about it in the locker room.
“He was just like, ‘I’m tired of seeing you getting blocked,’” Jacas said. “So, I was like, ‘[expletive], I’m not going to get blocked.’ So that’s what I did. Vrabel demands the best out of his players, so that’s what he did.”
Jacas made a pair of tackles on special teams. Stringing together improvement in that phase of the game will be important, the rookie linebacker said.
“Learning a lot on special teams is really important in the NFL,” Jacas said. “It’s important in general, but [special teams coach Jeremy] Springer pours a lot of love into his players. Just being out there and making an impact on special teams is really important.”
The Patriots forced four turnovers, including an interception from Richardson that bounced off the hands of the wide receiver. Kindle Vildor was able to scoop it. Jacas was pushing his defender back towards Richardson, pressuring the Indianapolis quarterback.
“I think the defense was swarming around, making plays,” Jacas said. “Obviously we got some turnovers, so that’s pretty huge. A lot of guys feed off of that, so that’s what you see. The first guy made a turnover and it just kept going on and on.”
Jacas said the experience was “valuable.” He missed OTAs and minicamp, but was able to get his contract done during training camp. Playing in his first preseason game was a dream come true, he said.
“It was fun. I had a lot of fun out there. Like I said, as a kid you dream of this opportunity and to be in this moment was really surreal. A lot of fun.”
Khari A. Thompson
Khari Thompson covers professional sports for Boston.com. Before joining the team in 2022, Khari covered college football for The Clarion Ledger in Jackson, Miss.
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