“No matter what’s going on, how good it could get, how bad it could get, I try to stay pretty level.”
“No matter what’s going on, how good it could get, how bad it could get, I try to stay pretty level.”
The Patriots’ 2025 season has seen Mike Vrabel’s team fixed on an upward trajectory for most of the year.
After stumbling out to a 1-2 record in the fall, a revitalized Patriots roster won 13 out of its final 14 games this year — securing the No. 2 seed in the AFC and a home playoff game for the first time since the 2019 season.
That same linear path hasn’t exactly presented itself to veteran running back Rhamondre Stevenson.
Entering his fifth NFL campaign with the expected role as New England’s lead back, Stevenson’s plans to leave a lackluster 2024 showing in the rearview mirror was shattered when his father, Robert, passed away at 54 years old in March.
Stevenson spent some time away from the Patriots during OTAs in order to grieve with his family, with the trials and tribulations continuing to mount once the regular season commenced in September.
Ball-security concerns have long been an issue for Stevenson — compounding with a poor stretch to open 2025 where he coughed up the ball three times in New England’s first five games.
It looked as though Stevenson had reached an inflection point with the only NFL club he’d play for, especially with rookie back TreVeyon Henderson starting to find his footing.
By the time Stevenson finally returned from a toe injury that sidelined him for several weeks, it looked as though his spot atop the running-back depth chart was coming to a close.
At least, that appeared to be the trend entering the final weeks of the regular season.
But, amid a season with plenty of setbacks, Steveson is starting to hit his stride at the ideal time for New England — giving an already explosive offense another trusted option in the trenches.
