Gabe Jacas had an eventful preseason debut. Not only did the New England Patriots rookie play a combined 37 snaps between defense and special teams, he also registered five total tackles.
Three of those takedowns came in the kicking game, which was good enough for the team lead on Thursday night. The output did not happen by accident, though. Instead, it was preceded by Mike Vrabel personally challenging Jacas early on.
“He was just like, ‘I’m tired of seeing you get blocked,’” the young outside linebacker explained after the Patriots’ 13-13 tie against the Indianapolis Colts. “I was like, ‘S—t, I’m not getting blocked.’ So, that’s what I did. Vrabel demands the best out of his players, so that’s what he did.”
According to New England’s head coach, the challenge stemmed from Jacas’ effort on a kickoff coverage play.
“I challenged him on a kickoff, and he made a tackle,” Vrabel said. “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, the Patriots’ second-round draft selection back in April, was one of several rookies seeing prominent snaps versus the Colts. Seven first-year players started the contest: four on offense and three, including the Illinois product, on the defensive side of the ball.
While Jacas’ performance overall had its ups and downs, which is not uncommon for a rookie playing in his first ever game against professionals, he felt good about it.
“Just having the opportunity to go out there and play the game of football, I love it,” he said. “Every snap I had, just going out there, running around. Very valuable.”