The Patriots have filled their three coordinator posts under new head coach Mike Vrabel.

Vrabel is hiring Lions defensive line coach Terrell Williams to be the Patriots’ defensive coordinator, ESPN first reported Wednesday. Vrabel had already elected to keep incumbent special teams coordinator Jeremy Springer and hired offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels on Tuesday.

Williams, 50, spent six seasons on the Titans’ staff while Vrabel was head coach. He was the Titans’ defensive line coach from 2018 to 2022 before adding assistant head coach to his duties in 2023. He was hired as the Lions’ defensive line coach/run game coordinator this season.

When Vrabel was fired, Dan Campbell moved to hire Williams in Detroit.

“I think he’s the best D-Line coach in the league,” Campbell told reporters at last year’s NFL Combine. “If he’s not, he’s certainly right up there. I think he knows how to develop, he’s got experience in game-planning and he’s going to be beneficial for our guys up front.”

Williams replaces Patriots defensive coordinator DeMarcus Covington, under whom the unit struggled in 2024 with Jerod Mayo as head coach. Covington was also a defensive line coach before being elevated to defensive coordinator, though he came with far less experience.

“You always felt like you were working with (Vrabel) and not for him,” Williams told The Athletic.

The Lions ranked fifth in rushing yards allowed and 22nd in yards per carry allowed in 2024. Overall, their defense was seventh in points allowed and 20th in total defense.

Wiliams played defensive tackle at East Carolina before going into coaching his position at Fort Scott Community College in 1998. He was a defensive line coach at North Carolina A&T, Youngstown State, Akron, Purdue and Texas A&M before heading to the NFL in 2012 as the Raiders’ defensive line coach. He also coached with the Dolphins from 2015 to 2017 before joining Vrabel on the Titans.

Vrabel added another familiar face to his staff in ex-Jets running backs coach Tony Dews, as first reported by The Athletic. Dews worked under Vrabel on the Titans as running backs coach from 2018 to 2022 before moving over to tight ends in 2023. It’s unclear which role he’ll serve in New England.

The Patriots have also hired John Streicher, who served as a director of football administration with the Titans under Vrabel. Last season, he was a game management coordinator with the Rams.

A WATER MAIN break delayed a trial scheduled Wednesday for Patriots safety Jabrill Peppers on allegations that he shoved his girlfriend’s head into a wall and repeatedly choked her after she received a phone call while they were in bed together.

Peppers, 29, faces charges of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and possession of a Class B substance believed to be cocaine, court documents show.

He was scheduled to appear in court in Quincy, Massachusetts, but the court was closed following a water main break, the clerk’s office said Wednesday morning. Peppers’ case was rescheduled for Thursday.

Police in Braintree, Massachusetts, said they were called to a home for an altercation between two people in October. Peppers allegedly pushed the woman to the ground, shoved her head into a wall, and allegedly choked her six times, according to court documents.

Police said she refused to go to a hospital and was treated at the home for her injuries.

Peppers answered the door shirtless, nodding his head and telling police, “I know what is going on,” according to court documents. He was arrested without incident. Police said they found a clear plastic bag at the home containing a white powder, which later tested positive for cocaine.

In an October court appearance, Peppers’ attorney, Marc Brofsky, said evidence “sheds real doubt on the allegations, including videotaped evidence.” He said Peppers agreed not to have contact with the woman.

THE NUMBER OF New England Patriots participating in this year’s Pro Bowl Games has gone from one to zero.

Patriots special teams ace Brenden Schooler, who earned his first career Pro Bowl nod and an All-Pro selection this year, will not participate in this year’s games due to injury. Instead, he will be replaced by the Pittsburgh’s Miles Killebrew as the AFC’s core special teamer selection.

Killebrew is another of the league’s top special teams players. The Steelers specials teams captain was a Pro Bowler and first-team All-Pro selection in 2023.

Coming off his third NFL season, Schooler once again made a significant impact as a special teamer in New England. Following the retirement of longtime special teams captain Matthew Slater, Schooler took up the mantle of the team’s special teams ace. On top of that, Schooler also added defensive responsibilities to his plate, coming in as an athletic QB spy in certain packages.