Your Monday Mike Vrabel rundown: Patriots coach on reported grudge, the Jets, injury updates, and more
Here are some highlights from the Patriots coach:
Vrabel held his usual news conference Monday morning at Gillette Stadium. Here’s what he said:
On injury updates ahead of Thursday: “Terrell [Jennings is] being evaluated. Again, today is a walkthrough. We’ll do our best with the injury report and we’ll see what he’s able to do. I would say the same for all those guys that weren’t available for the game yesterday.”
On how Drake Maye dealt with pressure against the Buccaneers: “I thought well, and you see him pull through there with two hands on the football and then complete a pass, I thought that was really cool. It was a big play for us, being able to take care of the football and then just be able to extend and get a conversion for us. I think it always can be better, but I thought we gave ourselves a chance in protection, and there was a couple times where the pressure got to us. We’ll keep working on it, we’ll keep talking to Drake and allowing him to extend, but also being smart when he does extend.
On the importance of self-scouting: “I think we’re always trying to figure out what other teams are looking at. Seeing what works, and making sure our players understand that — that there are things that people are going to do, and when you see it on tape, it doesn’t take somebody to be that creative to say, ‘Hey, we should try this.’ You have to learn from the things that you’re seeing and be ready to anticipate, you don’t want to turn into a completely game-planning team and change things, you want to do things that your players are comfortable with and understand, but know with that comes some things you’re going to have to defend.”
On working with Mack Hollins: “I appreciate his professionalism. Don’t judge a book by its cover; he walks around like ‘Encino Man,’ but he’s smart, he’s easy to talk to, I enjoy our conversations. Great family, I was able to see his family yesterday after the game, so that was fun. I think he’s a good leader, I think he does a lot of different things for us, and I like having him here.”
On watching film on the plane, moving on quickly on a short week: “Well, we tried to move on to the Jets as quickly as possible. I think everyone was trying to move ahead as quickly as possible, whether that be some of the players or the coaches, so that was something that we did. We’re lucky to have a fantastic video staff, great department that works well with the coaches and provides us everything that we need … Just thankful that those guys are always ready to go.”
On facing a Jets defense that traded multiple stars: “I think there’s still going to be a three-technique where [Quinnen] Williams was and there’s still going to be a corner out there where Sauce [Gardner] was. I hope there’s not, I hope there’s only nine [players], but I don’t think there’s going to be. They’ve done a nice job all year mixing man and zone really well, so I think being able to mix some pressure as they do, linebackers are fast, they all run, good edge players, studied their edge players coming out, and it’s about what I thought they would be: long, fast, ability to affect the quarterback in the middle of the pocket. So, we’ll have to block the front and make sure the ’backers are covered up or we’ll have a tough time running the football.”
On what he saw blocking-wise on TreVeyon Henderson’s long touchdown runs: “We got him to the second level, Mack [Hollins] blocked the safety, and we ran away from the post safety. We were able to get [Henderson] to the edge. I thought [Austin Hooper] and Will [Campbell] did a good job of getting the edge and then [Khyiris] Tonga was able to get out on the safety and TreVeyon did everything else. Tough sledding, a lot of those runs, but again, if you’re able to stick with it and you’re able to break a couple, that helps.”
What Mike Vrabel said on WEEI
Following the Patriots’ 28-23 win over the Buccaneers on Sunday, New England head coach Mike Vrabel made sure to shout out the many fans who traveled to see the team in Tampa.
Speaking with WEEI’s “The Greg Hill Show” on Monday morning, Vrabel was impressed with the large contingent of Patriots fans in the area.
“We talked about giving them reasons to travel, reasons to cheer,” he said. “Certainly love seeing everybody around the hotel when we got there and on the way to the game, and at the game.
“We’re thankful [for] that,” added Vrabel. “We know that those trips aren’t easy or cheap. Those are commitments, and we appreciate that from our fans.”
New England, now 8-2, is tied with Denver and Indianapolis with the best record in the AFC. The Patriots face a quick turnaround, with a home game on Thursday night against the Jets.
As a result, Vrabel said his players are already operating as if it’s the middle of the week. For now, it’s just about rest and recuperation.
“There’s not going to be much physical activity. It’ll be a normal week at Wiggy’s house,” Vrabel joked, referencing former Patriot (and WEEI co-host) Jermaine Wiggins. “Not going to be a lot of physical activity.”
“That’s a good one,” Wiggins laughed. “Not much activity there.”
“All hands are on deck this morning,” Vrabel said of the training staff as players try to recover quickly. “Everything that we can possibly do, we’re going to do.”
Here are a few other topics Vrabel covered during the interview:
Amy Adams Strunk, and the NFL trade deadline
The Patriots opted to avoid making any major deals at the recent NFL trade deadline.
Vrabel provided the team’s perspective on what happened.
“Everybody in the personnel department worked, and tried to be diligent. But we didn’t feel like just adding players to add players,” he explained. “There were conversations about different things, and those things didn’t work out.
“Just decided that it wasn’t the right thing for us, and that’s kind of where it was,” Vrabel continued. “Moving forward here we’ll have to — especially this week on a short week — figure out who we have, who’s available, and where we can try to add some players or use some players from the practice squad.”
He was asked a follow-up question about a report that emerged following the trade deadline via Mike Giardi of Boston Sports Journal. Giardi said that he’d heard that “there has been some conversation league-wide that Tennessee might be unwilling to make deals with New England.”
The reason, Giardi explained, was that “the [Titans] owner, Amy Adams Strunk, continues to think too much about how things ended with Vrabel and is not inclined to help his new team.”
Vrabel, who was fired by the Titans in early 2024 after leading Tennessee for six seasons as head coach, provided a blunt response to the report.
“I haven’t talked to Amy since the day she fired me, so her name and my name should not be in the same sentence together because I haven’t talked to her since the day she fired me,” he replied.
Dealing with comparisons to the past
One inevitability of current Patriots success are the comparisons with previous teams. As the 2025 Patriots stack up wins, analysts have been unable to resist seeing shades of Tom Brady and previous Bill Belichick-coached teams in the current version.
Vrabel suggested that everyone “pump the brakes a bit.”
“No,” he said when asked if he sees parallels with the 2001 Patriots, a team that he started for, and won New England’s first Super Bowl. “That team in 2001, [it] was 5-5. Won nine games after Thanksgiving.”
One thing Vrabel did identify with was the importance of a team starting to play its best in November.
“You know, I do think that the season starts now,” he said. “The NFL season, this is when it starts, and we’ll have to be playing our best each and every week to give ourselves a chance. So the comparisons and things are kind of interesting, but we know that they’re not that important.”
One other comparison that’s currently being made is the assessment of Drake Maye as a successor to Brady. Vrabel noted that he isn’t concerned about Maye getting carried away with recent success.
“I don’t worry about Drake. I think that he’s going to stay motivated, stay committed to this football team,” said Vrabel. “He understands how difficult it is in this league, and the match-ups and the things that he has to do. I’m excited that he continues to lead this team and have success.
“He was already preparing last night on the plane,” Vrabel added of Maye getting ready for the Jets.
Supporting players through injury
Just before the end of the interview, Vrabel was also asked about a moment during the game on Sunday when defensive tackle Christian Barmore went down with an injury, and Vrabel came over to check on him.
As Barmore was still down and getting evaluated by trainers, Vrabel held his hand. The moment did not go unnoticed on social media, with Vrabel receiving credit.
“These guys put a lot out there for us. This is about the players. It always will be,” Vrabel said in response. “I don’t want to see any of them go down. You know what I mean? I don’t.”
“And I was getting tired. We had some guys go down yesterday. I was getting tired going out there,” he joked, “but if that’s what it takes, then that’s what it takes.”
Hayden Bird can be reached at [email protected]. Amin Touri can be reached at [email protected].
