One factor for Gillislee being deactivated is likely that he doesn’t play special teams and Burkhead and Bolden do. Also, Rex is far more versatile than Gillislee and his use is unpredictable because he’s a great pass-catcher and big enough to run between the tackles. Gillislee also lost a fumble against the Jets in Week #6 and was benched for the rest of the game.
The Patriot RB situation is always fluid under Belichick and while I loved seeing Rex’s usage last night, I don’t think we’ve seen the last of Gillislee.
Rex’s big night...
(((Uncle Al))) is quite subdued calling all of Rex's highlights. He starts to get excited when Rex scores, then quickly checks himself. Even Rex's punt block is called mostly with a monotone. It's one of Uncle Al's many subtle ways of calling games.