Patriots' Mike Vrabel sounds alarms with latest Gabe Jacas comments

After months of speculation and back and forth, the New England Patriots finally managed to get a deal done with Gabe Jacas.

The rookie second-round pick hadn’t signed his rookie deal, which isn’t that rare nowadays, but he hadn’t even been with the organization during the process.

The Patriots didn’t give him a participation agreement, and with no injury guarantees, the rookie out of Illinois chose not to partake in classroom sessions, drills or any team-related activities, a decision that left him far behind the rest of the pack.

That’s why, even though he’s finally there, there’s still growing speculation about whether he could redshirt the entire season. When asked about that, head coach Mike Vrabel was non-committal.

Gabe Jacas might still sit his entire rookie season 

“I don’t want to say. Nothing is 100 percent,” Vrabel said, per NBC Sports’ Michael David Smith. “I don’t anticipate that whatsoever. I don’t. I am excited where he is at. I am excited that he wants to be here, he wants to get going, and he does not want to be on the field with the trainer, I will tell you that. He wants to get back out there, play ball and be the player that we drafted and wanted to be here.” 

The Patriots moved three draft picks because they desperately needed a guy like Jacas. He was coming off piling up 11 sacks, 13.5 tackles for loss and three forced fumbles for the Fighting Illini last season, earning first-team All-Big Ten honors.

The Patriots lost K’Lavon Chaisson in free agency, and Harold Landry is currently out with an injury. That leaves Elijah Ponder and the recently signed Dre’Mont Jones as the main guys in the pass-rushing department for now.

Jacas is back to full strength and should be able to withstand the physicality of the pros. But after also missing so many film and learning sessions, it might be a while before he can make an impact.