It wasn’t all good vibes during the Patriots’ blowout win over the Browns on Sunday.

Star defensive tackle Christian Barmore was benched for the entire first quarter of New England’s 32-13 home victory over Cleveland. Barmore entered the game for the Browns’ third drive and, from that point forward, saw his typical workload. When the dust settled, Barmore racked up a team-high four quarterback pressures, per Pro Football Focus , and saw 30 snaps, second-most among Patriots defensive tackles.

That’s great and all, but what about the benching?

New England head coach Mike Vrabel gave a mysterious answer when asked about Barmore’s benching.

“I had to make a decision,” Vrabel told reporters after the game. “My job is to protect the team, so when there’s actions that I don’t feel like ar

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