Jahlani Tavai wasn’t able to make the trip with the Patriots to Cincinnati. He was out for personal reasons, head coach Mike Vrabel said earlier in the week, declining to provide any further details. After the Patriots hung on for a 26-20 win over the Bengals on Sunday, the team FaceTimed Tavai from the locker room. They had to deal with several injuries during the win, including rookie linemen Will Campbell and Jared Wilson having to leave the game early with lower body injuries. But they added a ninth-straight victory to their NFL-best win streak and made some time to include Tavai in the postgame celebration. “We were able to share some time with Jahlani back home, and so that was cool, and again, we’ll look to rejoin him shortly,” Vrabel said. “I think that was the biggest thing we’ll get those guys back from injury, however it is, our staff will do a great job, players will work hard, so got to be ready to go. Nobody’s going to feel sorry for us, I’m pretty sure of that.” Cornerback Christian Gonzalez said he enjoyed seeing Tavai on the call and asked for prayers for Tavai’s family. “We came in and everybody was able to get him on the FaceTime and just talk to him,” Gonzalez said. “So it’s been great to be able to talk to him and see his face and see the smiles. Continuous prayers for him and his family. We love him like a brother.” Cornerback Marcus Jones said the team was thinking of Tavai while they battled the Bengals. “First off, Jahlani is my guy,” Jones said. “It’s just one of those situations where we hate it for him and everything, but when it comes down to football, he loves the game of football so we definitely did it for him but also the guys who ended up getting injured and stuff like that.” Tight end Hunter Henry had a message for Tavai during his postgame press conference. “I’m not going to get into details about his situation, but obviously he’s not here with us on this trip,” Henry said. “I just want him to know how much we love him, how much we care for him, how much we care for everything he’s got going on.” “So, we take a lot of pride in our brothers and I’ve been playing with him for a few years now and have gotten close with him. Just want him to know that he’s loved and missed.” Running back TreVeyon Henderson summed up the emotions of pulling off a tough win with a teammate unable to make the trip. “This team has been though a lot and I feel like a lot of times people can look at us athletes as if everything is perfect in our lives, as if we all got it figured out, but we don’t,” Henderson said. “We’re people who go through things just like everyone else. We’re people who struggle just like everyone else as well. “I wish people could see that more, but its kind of hard when people just see us as football players while we’re human just like everyone else. We’re no better than others just because of the fame and the money and things like that. I try to help people understand that we’re all the same in the eyes of God. God loves us all equally and we’re all equally valuable to him as humans . I’m praying for those guys.”.
https://www.boston.com/sports/new-england-patriots/2025/11/23/jahlani-tavai-facetime-patriots-personal-reasons-comments/
Jahlani Tavai, out for personal reasons, gets FaceTime call from Patriots after win
