New England Patriots punter Bryce Baringer got hurt against the Philadelphia Eagles.
New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel told reporters that the team will sign a new punter soon.
Why? Because Bryce Baringer got hurt against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Baringer punted twice in the Patriots' preseason win against the Eagles. After his second punt, Baringer told Vrabel that something didn’t feel right.
Baringer, 27, has been the Patriots' punter since the team drafted him in the sixth round in 2023, replacing Jake Bailey. Baringer averaged 47.4 yards per punt last season and pinned 41.2% of his punts inside the 20-yard line.
When asked by MassLive about his injury after the Eagles-Patriots game, Baringer said, “I’m not going to get into it too much, but we’ll kind of just go from there and take it day by day.”
The Patriots open the 2026 season with a Super Bowl rematch against the Seahawks in Seattle. It will be interesting to see who New England signs at punter and how long Baringer is out. Behren Morton took over for Baringer in the Patriots-Eagles game after Baringer got hurt.
In Year 2 of the Vrabel era, the Patriots face the Seahawks, Pittsburgh Steelers, Jacksonville Jaguars, Buffalo Bills, Las Vegas Raiders, New York Jets, Chicago Bears, Miami Dolphins, Green Bay Packers, Detroit Lions, Los Angeles Chargers, Minnesota Vikings, Kansas City Chiefs and Denver Broncos. It's a tough schedule.
However, the Patriots have a really talented roster, headlined by Drake Maye, A.J. Brown, Romeo Doubs and Christian Gonzalez.
Maye finished the 2025 regular season with 4,394 passing yards and 31 passing touchdowns while completing 72.0% of his passes. He was second in MVP voting to Los Angeles Rams QB Matthew Stafford.
Since entering the NFL, Brown is fourth in the league in both receiving yards (8,029) and touchdown catches (56). Brown and Ja'Marr Chase are the NFL's only two players with at least 1,000 receiving yards and seven-plus touchdown catches in each of the past four seasons.
Maye enters this season with 6,670 passing yards and 46 passing touchdowns. It will be fascinating to see whether the Patriots can return to the Super Bowl and win it all. Maye and Co. have plenty of motivation after losing to Seattle 29-13 in Super Bowl LX.
