With some injuries plaguing the New England Patriots through the first few weeks of the season, the team’s head coach spoke about how the defensive unit can grow.

What does continuity look like for New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel? Ahead of the team’s Week 5 matchup against the Buffalo Bills, he spoke to reporters about how to establish continuity throughout his roster and especially his defense, a unit that’s had some roster turnover with recent injuries.

For the first time all season, veteran linebacker Jahlani Tavai will suit up for the Patriots. He missed the first four games of the year with a calf injury suffered during the spring, but now projects to be a key cog in the middle of New England’s defense. Now a linebacker like Christian Elliss or Jack Gibbens may get pushed to the side, despite being part of the defense almost every day since the summer.

As for the front seven, free agent edge rusher K’Lavon Chaisson was ruled out for the game with a knee injury and he’s going to need to be replaced. With these changes, it begs the question: How does a defensive unit, amid these player swaps, stay connected as a group?

“I think that that’s just a product of your system and making sure that everybody – the continuity, that the communication is the same,” Vrabel told reporters earlier in the week. “That linebackers are talking and speaking the same language. We rotate guys through practice just the same way as we have to get them ready for the game, that everybody’s communicating the same, that they’re talking the same language, they have the same demeanor and understand how we want to play, knowing that it’s going to be hard to play with the same roster or same lineup throughout the season.”

Vrabel’s right, it’s very unlikely the same 11 players will suit up and play for the entire 17-game schedule. That’s why the depth players, not just the starting unit, needs to be just as cohesive, as the players they’re backing up.

“Josh(ua) Farmer’s working extremely hard, Cory Durden, Eric Gregory. I mean, those guys that we like in there, and they’re young guys that continue to work, and we’ve gotten to try to get them reps intentionally as the season has gone on,” Vrabel said. “I think their snap count has continued to improve. So, the more guys that we can play up there, that they can help us, great.”

The Patriots used to be the measuring stick across the league when it came down to team-wide cohesion. Now, one of the NFL’s best in that department are the division rivals the Patriots are hoping to chase down.

I think that they have a program in place, and they certainly have done a fantastic job of building that,” Vrabel said of the Buffalo Bills. “Credit to (general manager) Brandon (Beane) and Sean (McDermott) of the types of players that they bring in and the ones that they develop, and it’s very successful.”