FOXBOROUGH – There’s a system in place for a reason, but a very important voice won’t be in the draft room on Saturday.

With Mike Vrabel stepping away to tend to everything that’s been swirling around him, Eliot Wolf, Ryan Cowden, Alonzo Highsmith, Matt Groh and really, the entire organization will have to pick up the slack when it comes to wheeling and dealing or making picks in rounds four through seven on Saturday.

Following the selection of offensive lineman Caleb Lomu from Utah, Wolf met with the media around 11:30.

The inevitable questions regarding Vrabel’s impending absence came and Wolf was extremely honest when asked what the team will miss without the head coach in the building.

“The stability of him as a person, some of the leadership, some of the presence. He does a nice job for us with the undrafted players,” he said. “Obviously, he’s a tremendous recruiter, so that’s maybe something that we’ll be missing. But again, we’re very confident in the people we have with the process. The assistant coaches have done a tremendous job, as have the scouts, preparing for day three. And we’re excited about it.”

Asked if he will have final say on Saturday, Wolf kept it short and sweet.

“Yes.”

Wolf was also asked about the process of finding out that Vrabel wouldn’t be around, and how the workday would then operate.

“I just refer to the statement. That’s a personal thing that Mike’s dealing with and going through, and obviously we support him. As far as the work is concerned on Saturday, not too worried about that,” he added. “Just as far as the process that we have in place, the people that we have in place.

“And it’s going to be different without his presence there, but we feel really good about the people that we have in place to make up for it.”

The Patriots did have eight picks slotted for day three, but gave one of them to Buffalo (No. 125, 4th round) to move up and get Lomu.