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FOXBORO — It wasn’t all that long ago the Patriots packaged three draft picks to trade up for Gabe Jacas. After two preseason games, Mike Vrabel and his coaching staff are still figuring out what the second-round rookie pass rusher can do. For now, Vrabel sounds sure of one thing when reflecting on Jacas’ NFL performances thus far. “Just still inconsistent,” he said after Saturday’s preseason win over the Eagles. “I think that the effort is certainly there, the willingness. He is a very coachable player. We are just putting a lot on him right now as far as special teams and covering kicks and playing on kick return. We have to be able to see what he can do and what we, maybe what we feel like we can count on when the regular season comes.” Jacas, a prototypical edge defender at 6-foot-4 and 261 pounds, missed virtually all of the team’s spring practices and meetings after undergoing a knee procedure that led to prolonged contract negotiations with the team. Once he signed days into training camp, Jacas spent a few days in the facility ramping up into football shape and participated in his practice Aug. 1. Jacas was disappointed with several hasty mistakes in his preseason debut against the Colts last week, and got flagged for a roughing the passer penalty versus the Eagles on Saturday. But Vrabel is nonetheless optimistic about the rookie’s long-term outlook. “I think he will just continue to improve because he has that type of attitude, and he is willing, and I know he will get back to work real quick,” Vrabel said. Jacas finished with three tackles and a quarterback hit he recorded on a play where he was unblocked. The Patriots are counting on him to be a key piece of their edge rush rotation, where projected starter Harold Landry remains on the Physically Unable to Perform list and Elijah Ponder and Dre’Mont Jones are the only other roster locks come cutdown day. Asked about his greatest area of improvement from last week’s preseason opener against Indianapolis through Saturday night’s exhibition, Jacas pointed to special teams. “I was on all four (units), so that was definitely an improvement for me,” Jacas said. “Just honing in on special teams and doing what I was coached to do, I think the coaches could see that from me from game one to game two.”