New England Patriots defensive tackle Christian Barmore was unexpectedly benched at the beginning of the team's Week 8 game against the Cleveland Browns , and no one seems to know why.

Barmore had started all seven games entering Sunday, but he was not on the field for New England's first defensive series against the Browns. The veteran wound up sitting out the entire first quarter, which made it seem like he was serving some sort of punishment from head coach Mike Vrabel.

Vrabel was asked about Barmore's surprising benching following the Patriots' 32-13 win over Cleveland. The coach suggested Barmore had violated team rules.

"I had to make a decision,” Vrabel said, via Mark Daniels of MassLive.com . “My job is to protect the team, so when there’s actions that I don’t feel like are

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