Pats Pulpit
After New England Patriots linebacker Robert Spillane missed four regular-season contests and part of the AFC Championship Game due to injury, the franchise knew it was entering the offseason with a clear need to bolster the position’s depth.
While retaining several familiar faces from 2025, New England added veteran K.J. Britt and two rookies, Namdi Obiazor and Khalil Jacobs, to create a unit with more stability.
In the next edition of our Patriots training camp preview series, we’ll take a look at New England’s linebacker corps in its entirety and discuss the biggest takeaways heading into the summer practices. Veterans will report to the facility on July 24.
*Denotes player on the Pats Pulpit 53-man roster projection
Starters: Robert Spillane (30)*, Christian Elliss (27)* | Backups: Chad Muma (26)*, K.J. Britt (27)*, Otis Reese (28), Amari Gainer (26), Namdi Obiazor (24/R), Khalil Jacobs (22/R), Riley Wilson (24/R)
Spillane as the green-dot communicator and Christian Elliss as the quick, physical weakside complement are currently slated to be the starting pair once again in 2026. But behind these starters is a wide-open competition for the rotational spots on the main roster.
Veterans Chad Muma and Britt are currently most equipped to take over those roles. Muma considerably repped with the first-team defense during spring practices, while Britt offers extensive special teams experience.
Then, sixth-round rookie Obiazor and undrafted free agents Jacobs and Wilson will spend training camp competing for a spot on the final roster.
Obiazor, who converted from defensive back to linebacker at TCU, has the 4.53-second 40-yard dash speed to cover a lot of space and the build (6-foot-3, 229 pounds) to finish tackles and be a force against the run. Jacobs is a bit undersized (6-foot-1, 227 pounds) but played with tenacity as a reliable tackler for the Tigers while emerging as a defensive leader. Wilson (6-foot-1, 226 pounds) joined the team just before camp and has on- and off-ball flexibility.
All three rookies also bring significant special-teams backgrounds to New England.
Finally, Otis Reese and Amari Gainer were each late-season practice squad additions to reinforce the Patriots’ defensive depth over the latter half of 2025; they’ll look to do the same next season. Reese logged 20 total games for the Tennessee Titans over the prior two seasons, while Gainer was primarily a specialist for the Las Vegas Raiders in 2024.
During Week 15, Spillane suffered a foot/ankle injury in a divisional showdown against the Buffalo Bills, which sidelined the veteran for the remaining four games of the regular season.
While Spillane returned for the playoffs and played 96.3% of the defensive snaps against the Los Angeles Chargers and Houston Texans, the injury had been bothering him for some time. The signal caller was a limited participant in the two practices leading up to the Buffalo contest, and he would later reinjure his foot/ankle against the Denver Broncos, forcing him out of the championship...
