FOXBOROUGH — Milton Williams has truly been a force on defense for the New England Patriots this season, making many big plays in crucial moments. So, it was a big loss for the team when they placed him on injured reserve on Saturday, meaning that he will miss a minimum of four games.
“We won’t have Milt for the foreseeable future,” Mike Vrabel told reporters on Monday. “He’ll work hard to get back, so that’s really where our focus is. It’s not so much as a reflection as it is just focusing on how do we get the guys ready to perform and continue to improve. The thing we’re trying to get everybody to understand is how much this is a progress league to be able to improve as the season goes on. And so we’ll have to do that without Milt, who’s one of our contributors and a big part of what we’ve done. But we’ll have to do it without him here for a few weeks.”
As for who will step up in his absence, Vrabel mentioned Joshua Farmer, Cory Durden, Jeremiah Pharms, and Eric Gregory.
“Well, the same guys that I think have been playing,” he added. “Eric Gregory played in a game for the first time. I thought he battled and is continuing to improve in the show team stuff and practice. We’ll hopefully get Josh (Farmer) back. I would say that (Jeremiah) Pharms (Jr.) is doing a great job as well on the show team and is ready to go in there at any point. So, I think we’re okay there as far as the depth. We’ll just have to keep working, keep moving along.”
Williams became the highest-paid player in franchise history after he signed a four-year, $104 million contract this offseason. So far this year, he has 27 total tackles, 3.5 sacks, one pass defended, and eight stuffs.
The defensive tackle will miss games against the Cincinnati Bengals, New York Giants, Buffalo Bills, and Baltimore Ravens. He will be eligible to return against the New York Jets in Week 17.
Follow Patriots Wire on Twitter and Facebook.
This article originally appeared on Patriots Wire: Mike Vrabel on what’s next after Patriots place defensive star on IR
