FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel gave a vote of confidence to Rhamondre Stevenson as the team's No. 1 running back after Stevenson lost two fumbles in Sunday's 21-14 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers at Gillette Stadium, but also left open the possibility for future changes.
"We've got to get him back. We need him. We absolutely need him," Vrabel said after keeping Stevenson on the sideline for most of the second half after his second lost fumble. "We'll just have to look at the technique and the ball security, but we need his ability. We also need to take care of the football."
The fumbles continued a concerning trend for Stevenson dating back to last season; his five lost fumbles since the start of 2024 are the most among NFL running backs, according to ESPN Research.
Vrabel noted Stevenson's starring role in a Week 2 win over the Dolphins, while also leaving himself an opening to alter plans by saying, "I'm not really sure 20 minutes after the game what we're going to do, but we need him because he helped us win the game last week, and it was a different story today."
Overall, the Patriots had five turnovers in the loss to the Steelers, two of which came inside the Steelers' 5-yard line. According to ESPN Research, this is the first time since 1978 that the Patriots had multiple turnovers inside their opponent's 5-yard line in a game. This also marked the first time the Patriots turned the ball over five times in a game since Nov. 30, 2008, also against the Steelers.
Entering Sunday's game, Stevenson had played 85 offensive snaps through the first two weeks, easily the most among Patriots running backs. Rookie TreVeyon Henderson was next with 44, followed by six-year veteran Antonio Gibson with 15.
But the snap distribution changed notably Sunday after Stevenson's second lost fumble, which was preceded by a lost fumble by Gibson on the next drive. Stevenson was unofficially charted on the field for just two snaps for the rest of the game. Gibson had a similarly reduced role after his lost fumble as coaches stayed with Henderson, the second-round pick from Ohio State.
"If I don't hold on to the ball, they don't need me," Stevenson said. "I got to do everything I need to do to hold the ball, so I'll be taking every approach that is needed. Just attack practice like I do each and every day [and] have ball security at the top of my mind right now."
Stevenson, in his fifth NFL season, received words of encouragement from teammates.
"He's one of our best players," said quarterback Drake Maye, who also lost a fumble and threw a tipped interception in the end zone at the end of the second quarter. "There's nothing he can do that would change my view of him as a player, as a teammate. We need him throughout the season."