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After blood clot scares, Christian Barmore expects to be ready for football in 2025
"That was one of the hardest times for me. I wanted to be out there. I wanted to support my brothers."
FOXBOROUGH — The Patriots invested heavily this offseason in beefing up their defense, adding playmakers like Milton Williams, Harold Landry, Robert Spillane, and Carlton Davis to the roster in free agency.
But New England might receive another boost in 2025 with the return of one of their most disruptive players at the line of scrimmage.
After missing most of the 2024 season due to blood-clotting issues, Patriots defensive tackle Christian Barmore confirmed to reporters on Thursday that he’s been cleared to practice during OTAs next week and doesn’t expect to be limited by any restrictions.
Barmore — who spent two separate stints on the non-football illness list last season due to his potentially career-ending symptoms — said that he expects to be a full go come Week 1 against the Raiders on Sept. 7.
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“Yeah. That’s the goal,” Barmore said of his viability to play in New England’s season opener. “I just have to keep following the medical team. But everything is looking really good.”
Barmore signed a four-year contract extension worth up to $92 million in April 2024. He was seemingly poised to take another major step forward last season after putting together a breakout campaign in 2023 (8.5 sacks).
But, the 25-year-old defensive tackle’s season was cut short before it could begin to ramp up, as he was first placed on the reserve/non-football injury list during training camp in July due to blood-clotting issues.
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While Barmore was initially ruled out “indefinitely” during camp due to his illness, he eventually returned to game action on Nov. 17 for New England — giving New England some much-needed reinforcements amid another frustrating season.
“The blood clots are not a joke,” Barmore said after his season debut against the Rams last season. “I had real bad shortness of breath, and it messed with me like a lot. … My teammates really supported the hell out of me, and I love them all.”
But after just four games, Barmore landed back on the non-football illness list due to recurring symptoms, ending his season in December.
“It was really hard, man. That was one of the hardest times for me,” Barmore said on Thursday after getting sidelined again. “I wanted to be out there. I wanted to support my brothers.
“I feel like I did everything in my power just to come back… I wanted to do everything in my power to come back, but unfortunately I was not ready to come back and I put my faith in God and just keep on listening to the medical team and keep doing what I got to do and that’s all I can say.”
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Even with his limited reps last season — including no practices during training camp or any preseason play — Barmore did showcase his talents as a play-wrecker on the D line last season, making six tackles and recording a sack over his four games.
Still, whatever sort of positive momentum he built on the field in November 2024 quickly fell to the wayside ince his symptoms sprouted back up.
“It was really confusing. [Had] anger, and just really like mind-blowing because like I was putting in a lot of work here at that time. It’s like all that work I put in for nothing,” Barmore said. “I was doing everything I can just to come back for this team last year.
“I don’t ever want to be in a situation or anybody in the world to go through that because that stuff was no joke and was just a hard challenge.”
Despite that setback, Barmore once again received clearance from New England’s medical staff this spring and is looking to put the 2024 season in the rearview mirror.
While Barmore did not elaborate on what might have caused those symptoms to recur, he added that he doesn’t have any worries over it being an issue moving forward.
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A healthy Barmore would be a welcome sight for New England’s defense in 2025, especially when paired alongside another dynamic force at the line of scrimmage like Williams.
“The biggest challenge is really just battling with myself,” Barmore said of preparing for the 2025 season. “Last year really hit me – use that as motivation and anger because it’s making me work even harder.
“That situation was like I could have lost a lot and literally all the work I put in could have been taken away and I’ve been really hurt. I can never take things for granted and just keep on working even harder and keep doing what God planned.”
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