Jahlani Karl Tavai (born September 28, 1996) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, ...

for the New England Patriots of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He is the younger brother of

J. R. Tavai John Robert Tavai (born September 23, 1993) is a former professional gridiron football defensive lineman and linebacker. He played college football at USC Trojans football, Southern California. He was signed by Tennessee Titans as an undrafted fr ...

and older brother of Justus Tavai. He played college football at

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

College career

College statistics

Professional career

Detroit Lions

Tavai was drafted by the Detroit Lions in the second round (43rd overall) of the 2019 NFL Draft. He played in 15 games in six starts, recording 58 tackles, two sacks, a forced fumble, two passes defensed and an interception. He suffered a shoulder injury in Week 16 and was placed on injured reserve on December 23, 2019. On August 31, 2021, Tavai was waived by the Detroit Lions as part of the final pre-season roster cuts.

New England Patriots

After being released by Detroit, on September 1, 2021, the New England Patriots signed Tavai to their practice squad, eventually activating him, while reuniting with

Matt Patricia Matthew Edward Patricia (born September 13, 1974) is an American football coach who is the senior football advisor and offensive line coach for the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL). He has served 15 non-consecutive sea ...

, his former head coach in Detroit. He was promoted to the active roster on October 13. Tavai began the 2022 season as a backup linebacker. He was named a starter in Week 5 and remained there the rest of the season. On November 29, 2022, Tavai signed a two-year, $4.4 million contract extension with the Patriots. He finished the season with 69 tackles, 1.5 sacks, and two passes defensed.

References

External links

Hawaii Rainbow Warriors bio
1996 births Living people American football linebackers Detroit Lions players Hawaii Rainbow Warriors football players Mira Costa High School alumni New England Patriots players Players of American football from Inglewood, California {{linebacker-1990s-stub