Patriots Hold Out Active Robert Spillane

By Matt Schauf | Updated on Mon, Dec 15 2025 11:18 PM UTC

Patriots LB Robert Spillane made the active roster for Sunday's loss to the Bills after entering the weekend questionable with a foot injury that limited his final two days of practice. If you started him in your IDP lineup, though, you probably noticed that Spillane logged absolutely no stats. That's because New England decided to hold out its lead LB and treat him only as an "emergency" option.

What They're Saying

HC Mike Vrabel afterward, via Zack Cox of the Boston Herald: "We felt like, after going through warmups, that was best for him today."

2025 Fantasy Football Impact

There's certainly nothing wrong with that decision. But it'd sure be nice if fantasy managers could get that info before locking such a player into their lineups.

Look, I know Vrabel doesn't care about our fantasy teams. I'm not asking him or any other coach to start caring. And if I was a coach or player, I'd probably hate fantasy for all the crap I take from wingnuts on social media any time they don't win.

But professional sports exist only for the entertainment of fans. And fantasy football -- plus other certain peripheral activities -- have played a main role in advancing the NFL to its current level of popularity (and money making).

So it's plenty reasonable to ask that they collectively respect us enough to let us know when a starter isn't going to start. (Why do you think they announce the inactives 90 minutes ahead of kickoff?)

I'd guess that Spillane will be ready to return for this weekend's game, especially now that the Pats lead Buffalo by just a game in the division and trail Denver by a game for the No. 1 seed. But we'll see what the practice week tells us.

Jack Gibbens played every snap in Spillane's absence, with Christian Elliss following at 86% playing time. If Spillane returns for Week 16, don't be surprised if neither Gibbens nor Spillane reaches that level of playing time.

Gibbens hasn't reached a 60% snap share in any other game this season. Elliss reached 60% four other times, with no other game higher than 74%.

Matt Schauf, Editor

Matt has earned two Fantasy Pros accuracy awards for IDP rankings and won thousands of dollars as a player across best ball, dynasty, and high-stakes fantasy formats. He has been creating fantasy football content for more than 20 years, with work featured by Sporting News, Rotoworld, Athlon, Sirius XM, and others. He's been with Draft Sharks since 2011.