FOXBORO — The injury and contract squabbles that kept Gabe Jacas away from the Patriots this spring didn’t leave outside linebackers coach Mike Smith with any sort of ill will towards the rookie.
Just the opposite, in fact.
Smith is impressed with how far Jacas has progressed in training camp after missing all of the offseason workout program.
“That’s one of the biggest stages of a young man’s career,” Smith said this week. “Really, anybody, any player that misses a whole spring and all the different things that we’re adding and changing after a season and just working on your technique, your footwork, your hands, (anybody is) going to struggle. But for a rookie, it’s very tough.
“That’s why I’m shocked kind of where he’s at and where he’s progressing right now just on the defensive standpoint and learning, because you’re talking about a guy that didn’t come close to doing as much that we’re asking him to do right now. You’re adding all the dropping concepts and the way we teach rush and setting edge, alignments and understanding for him. I mean, it’s impressive where he’s at, and he’s got a long ways to go. I mean, a long ways to go, and he should have a long ways to go. But it, I think it says a lot about him of where he’s at right now.”
Smith is betting on Jacas to have a successful NFL career because of his makeup.
The Patriots traded up to select the 6-foot-4, 261-pound edge defender 55th overall in the 2026 NFL Draft out of Illinois.
Jacas registered 11 sacks, 43 tackles, 13.5 tackles for loss and three forced fumbles as a senior with the Illini in 2025.
“I’m not a gambler, but I kind of look at maybe anything in life as gambling,” Smith said. “You got a kid that’s big like him, that’s athletic like him, that’s meaner than a wet mule, and he loves football. I’m not gonna say he’s gonna be Jason Taylor or LT (Lawrence Taylor) or any of that stuff, but it’s gonna be very hard for him to fail.“
Smith joked that he believes Jacas is “actually about 45 years old” because he’s an “old soul.”
Jacas is constantly in his playbook as he masters the basics of the Patriots’ defense.
“This kid’s going to be a special player,” Smith said. “I don’t think many coaches say that right off the bat, when a guy’s been here for three weeks.”
Smith also expressed confidence if the Patriots need to enter the season with Jacas as the primary backup behind Dre’Mont Jones and Elijah Ponder on the edge.
Harold Landry III would start, if healthy, but he’s still on the physically unable to perform list after suffering a knee injury — one he continued to play through — midway through last season. No one else in the Patriots’ outside linebacker room has emerged this summer. Veteran Jesse Luketa, 2025 fifth-round pick Bradyn Swinson, third-year pro Amari Gainer and rookies Quintayvious Hutchins and Xavier Holmes are still battling for roles and roster spots.
“Are there going to be some learning moments and some things that — yeah, I’ve never in all my years coaching and playing NFL, I’ve never seen a kid come out and just figure it out Day 1,” Smith said of Jacas. “Even if they’ve had all spring and all this other stuff, they’re such a huge part of development and just taking time and making mistakes. You can’t learn until you make a mistake, and so yeah, there’s going to be some times, but I feel comfortable because I know who the man is and the time that he’s going to put in it, and the effort that he’s going to put in.”
Jacas has had some growing pains through two preseason games, but head coach Mike Vrabel has been hard on the rookie to fix mistakes quickly.
Smith has also seen Ponder take a major leap from Year 1 to Year 2. Ponder has been starting across from Jones since practice began in the spring.