FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — With only one week remaining until the start of mandatory minicamp, the New England Patriots may already be facing the prospect of losing one of their key defenders.
As the Pats participated in Monday’s OTA session at Gillette Stadium, linebacker Jahlani Tavai apparently suffered what appeared to be a lower leg injury during 11-on-11 drills.
Patriots players kneeled around Tavai as the 28-year-old went down and remained there for an extended period of time. Shortly thereafter, the action on the field temporarily ceased, while the background music was muted, as noted by ESPN’s Mike Reiss. Safety Jabrill Peppers and offensive lineman Mike Onwenu eventually helped Tavai off the field, with the latter sparingly putting pressure on his right leg.
Tavai began his NFL career as a second-round draft pick by the Detroit Lions in 2019. While he showed flashes of the prowess he showed at the University of Hawaii. However, Detroit believed that his downs outweighed the ups, and released him after two seasons in September 2021. In total, Tavai appeared in 31 games during his time in the Motor City.
New England signed Tavai to their practice squad shortly after his release. In less than one month, the Pats signed him to the 53-man roster. Since that time, he has been a part of the team’s active roster — appearing in 47 regular season games and one playoff contest in 2021.
Tavai’s breakout season came in 2023 in which he played in all 17 games for the Patriots, making 16 starts. He took part in 74 percent of New England’s defensive plays — registering a career-high 110 tackles (five, for loss) five passes-defensed, four quarterback hits, two interceptions, two forced fumbles and one sack. In fact, Tavai posted the fourth-best Pro Football Focus (PFF) grade among LBs with at least 500 snaps. Last year, Tavai recorded 115 total tackles with seven tackles for loss, a sack, and five passes-defensed.
Throughout his time in New England, Tavai has continued to impress his coaches, as well as fans and media alike, with his dedication and versatility. However, his 6’2” 255-pound frame was also ideally suited for the type of larger, plodding linebackers which thrive in former coach Bill Belichick’s style defense — one which remained in place during Jerod Mayo’s lone season on the Pats’ bench.
This year, new head coach Mike Vrabel, in conjunction with new defensive coordinator Terrel Williams, has already begun to install an increasingly aggressive-style of defense — in which smaller, athletic linebackers are more prone to thrive. As such, several team analysts have begin to question the security of Tavai’s role with the team moving forward.
The Patriots also employ linebackers Robert Spillane, Monty Rice, Jack Gibbens and Christian Elliss on their specific-side positional depth charts.
