PALM BEACH, Fla. —Last month at the NFL Scouting Combine, MIke Vrabel revealed Patriots defensive tackle Christian Barmore was scheduled to visit the team facility in late March for a checkup.

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While it’s still unknown whether Barmore will be able to return to the field, the checkup, Vrabel said, went well.

“When (Barmore) walked into the training room, all the trainers, and just his energy and presence — I know that he’s feeling better,” Vrabel said Monday at the NFL Annual Meeting. “We’ll continue to evaluate him. It’s something very serious. We take the health of our players extremely seriously, especially when you’re talking about something like blood clots, and we’re going to have a great plan for him.”

Vrabel added he believes Barmore will participate in the team’s voluntary offseason program starting April 7. The early stages of the program involve workouts and classroom work, and Barmore has already been working out on his own away from the team facility. Whether he will be allowed to participate in practice by mid-May, when the team will run non-contact sessions during latter stages of its Organized Team Activities (OTAs), remains to be seen.

“We’re going to do right by him whatever is necessary,” Vrabel said. “However we can get him to help us based on days of practice, based on everything that he needs. And we don’t have that plan yet, but we’re continuing to work through it.”

Barmore was initially ruled out on July 28, less than a week into last yaer’s training camp. He returned to practice in mid-November, and despite never practicing in pads, Barmore made his season debut in a Nov. 24 home loss to the Rams. He finished the season with one sack and tackles over four game appearances.

In 2023, Barmore tallied a team-high 8.5 sacks and 16 QB hits. His production led to a lucrative four-year, $83 million extension with the Patriots, which he signed shortly before being diagnosed with blood clots.

Should Barmore return, he and free-agent addition Milton Williams figure to form the bedrock of Vrabel’s new defense. They are among the 12 highest-paid defensive tackles in the NFL and have ranked among the league’s best pass-rushing defensive linemen by Pro Football Focus each of the past two seasons.