EAGEN, Minn. — The Patriots will have a difficult decision to make about safety Kyle Dugger in less than two weeks when they trim their roster down to 53 players.

Dugger, a defensive starter for the Patriots since he was selected in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft, has been demoted to the second-unit defense in recent practices.

That was the case once again on Wednesday in a joint practice with the Vikings. It was Jabrill Peppers, Jaylinn Hawkins and rookie Craig Woodson taking first-team reps, while Dugger was relegated to backup duties with Marcus Epps.

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Head coach Mike Vrabel was asked Wednesday what Dugger, who signed a four-year, $58 million contract with $32.5 million in guarantees, could do to work back into the first-team defense.

“I think just making su

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