Christian Barmore's loss seriously threatens the Patriots' defensive line

FOXBORO — Patriots defensive tackle Christian Barmore proved himself indispensable at the start of the 2024 season without taking a snap.

There’s a reason Barmore signed a four-year, $92 million extension with the Patriots in April. It’s hard to find defensive tackles like the 2021 second-round pick who play a lot and are as effective as passers and run defenders.

This has been evident this season with Barmore out indefinitely after being diagnosed with blood clots. Barmore’s condition has forced the Patriots to rely heavily on defensive tackles Davon Godchaux and Daniel Ekuale, with both players on pace for career highs in defensive snaps this season.

Barmore remained on the team, but coaches remained mum on the defensive tackle’s status as he recovers.

The Patriots’ run defense hasn’t been up to the team’s usual standard, ranking 22nd in allowing a 43.3% success rate against the run. Godchaux and Ekuale rank 94th and 98th out of 126 qualified defensive tackles in passing productivity.

“I’ve talked to these players about it, and they need some extra conditioning, things like that, to make sure they’re ready,” defensive coordinator Demarcus Covington said Thursday morning of the increase in photos from Godchaux and Ekuale. “It’s been 60 minutes. We need them to be ready in the fourth quarter as well, just like we were in the first quarter. That being said, so they don’t need to take as many snaps, the other players behind them or the other players in that room need to get their level of play to a level where we can continue to rotate these guys and keep everyone cool. .”

Godchaux and Ekuale both rank in the top 20 among defensive tackles in snaps. The Patriots generally like to play with more rotation at the position. The Patriots are one of four teams with two defensive tackles in the top 20 in snaps.

They haven’t seen a defensive tackle finish a season in the top 20 in snaps played since 2016, when Alan Branch did it.

“Those guys are our guys,” defensive line coach Jerry Montgomery said of Godchaux and Ekuale. “So we’re building depth in this room. Obviously the fact that we have injuries doesn’t help. But we just need help from the guys behind us to continue to grow and spread the wealth a bit.

Ekuale played a career-high 362 defensive snaps in 2022 with the Patriots. He is already at 144 after three weeks. Godchaux’s career high came in 2019 with the Dolphins, when he played 718 snaps. He is at 131 so far. Third on the Patriots defensive tackle list is Jeremiah Pharms Jr. at 70 years old.

“He’s kind of like the guy you’re suggesting, and he’s kind of doing his job,” Montgomery said of Pharms. “You know where he’s going to be and he’s done a good job.”

Eric Johnson was claimed off waivers by the Colts in late August. He played 11 snaps in the Patriots’ Week 3 loss to the Jets and is learning a completely different style of defense with his new team.

“We’re just teaching him how to play the game we play,” Montgomery said of Johnson. “You have to remember the guys that are here have been here since spring and fall camp. They replaced hundreds of reps on things like we do, and then replaced them in different ways at other places. He learns that he will be fine.

The Patriots also have Trysten Hill, who played seven snaps in Week 1, and Jaquelin Roy on their practice squad.