The New England Patriots are planning to operate without their nominal defensive coordinator for a third straight week. According to head coach Mike Vrabel, the plan is for Zak Kuhr rather than Terrell Williams to lead the team’s defense into its upcoming Week 4 matchup with the Carolina Panthers.

“Right now we’ll just, I would say moving forward, kind of be where we were last week. That’s where I would anticipate it being this week,” Vrabel told reporters on Monday.

Williams and Kuhr both joined the Patriots alongside Vrabel this offseason, getting hired by the new head coach as defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach, respectively.

The defensive structure was already put to the test in March, in the aftermath of Williams suffering a medical emergency that forced him to spen

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