Christian Barmore was on the bench for the entirety of the first quarter between the New England Patriots and the Cleveland Browns on Sunday.

The defensive tackle’s first action of the game came on Cleveland’s third drive in New England’s eventual 32-13 win at Gillette Stadium in Week 8.

“I just had to make a decision. My job’s to protect the team,” coach Mike Vrabel said when asked about Barmore’s benching. “So when there’s actions that I don’t feel like are commensurate with what we want to do here, I have to make a decision. And we move on.”

Barmore declined an interview request in the locker room.

The benching came as a surprise since Barmore wasn’t listed on the Patriots injury report and had played 65% of the defensive snaps through the first seven games of the season.

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