Christian Barmore Describes Challenges Returning To Patriots Defense

Patriots defensive tackle Christian Barmore was grateful to be back on the field Sunday after he missed the first 10 weeks of the season after being diagnosed with blood clots in July.

While his final stat line may not leap off the page, with just three tackles, Barmore was primarily limited to third-down situations in the Patriots’ loss to the Los Angeles Rams.

“The blood clots are not a joke,” Barmore told reporters postgame at Gillette Stadium, per team-provided video. “I had real bad shortness of breath, and it messed with me, like a lot. … My teammates really supported the hell out of me. I love them all, and coaches and all. I told myself I was not gonna lose that battle. So I told myself, I’m gonna keep fighting and keep going.”

Barmore admitted he is still working on getting into game shape, despite feeling “good” during and after the game. He is also thankful for his Patriots teammate David Andrews, who suffered from a similar ailment in 2019.

“That man, DA’s a legend,” Barmore said of Andrews. “He kept my head up every time I needed to talk to him; every time I had my head down, he came up to me and wanted to talk to me. Especially hearing his story, he just motivated me to keep going even stronger. Keep fighting, just to work on myself and make myself a better man.”

Despite the Patriots being unable to take home the win Sunday, Barmore was happy to be back on the field and spoke about his experience.

“Never take anything for granted,” Barmore said. “Could have lost my life. When the doctor told me that, I just got closer with God. And just saying, like, why is this happening to me?

“But, God makes no mistakes. And I feel like God brings his toughest battle to his toughest soldiers. I’m a soldier, so I had to tell myself, ‘I’m not going to let this beat me.'”