Like Eliot Wolf on Tuesday, Mike Vrabel spent Wednesday at the combine going through the media carwash, with various appearances, including two with the assembled media at the podium, and with New England reporters.
Considering we heard from Vrabel about two weeks ago after the Super Bowl, and since he took at least some personal time after a very long season, the Patriots’ head coach was pretty light on the details when it came to his football team heading into free agency and the draft process. If you were hoping to get a vision for where the Patriots are going this offseason, that didn’t happen.
“I don’t want to tell you what it is because we’re still working through it,” Vrabel said. “We want to have a plan, and we want to bring in really talented players that we have a vision for, that we also believe in the type of character that they have as we build this team and improve on what we did this year. We know how difficult that will be. So right now, the plan is to evaluate everybody that we can, have communication and conversations, when those times come, with the agents as we approach the tampering window. Right now, it’s about gaining information from our scouting department and having our coaches look at it and then figuring out a few players at each position that may help us.”
Some of the key takeaways from Vrabel:
• No clarity on Diggs’ future with the team.
“He worked extremely hard in the time that he was rehabbing from the knee. I think he was just a really good presence each and every week. So, as we look to evaluate the football team, we’re doing that constantly, Eliot [Wolf], myself, Ryan [Cowden], Stretch [John Streicher] and Eliot’s staff. Just being a little bit behind of where we were with just how long the season went, where those conversations for each and every player are happening in the meetings in between the ones we have the draft players here. So, there’s a lot of things that we’ll do between now and the time that the football season starts. So, that’s going to be the same with, I would say, most every player on our roster.”
• Vrabel has done his most draft work on tight end and edge.
While that’s two of the deeper position groups, I think that’s a good indicator for where they might be beefing up in the draft.
What he’s looking for from the edge:
“I think that there’s got to be a violence. There’s got to be ability to move off the football and to create some sort of disruption. You have to be able to factor in on the quarterback. You have to be able to make plays on the football. We know the quarterback is responsible for the most turnovers in football. So, can they affect the quarterback? And then the ability to set the edge, rush and have enough coverage acumen that the few times we ask them to do it, they can do it.”
“I just know that when you go and you evaluate other teams and you get ready to play for them, there’s a bunch of fourth and fifth round tight ends that end up starting, playing and contributing. So, wherever that value is, I just think that there are some names there. I, myself, personally, have to do a better job of evaluating that position that I can then give input to the rest of the personnel staff and kind of the vision that we have for that position. We’ve met with a bunch of edge players. There’s depth there. So, we’ll continue to work our way across the board and enjoy these meetings, and I’ll have to go back and continue to watch.”
• Vrabel talked about his relationship to AJ Brown, but I wouldn’t read much into it.
“I think the relationship with players, and specifically, you asked about A.J. It has meant a lot. I’ve watched him grow. I’ve watched him mature. I’m proud of him, proud of the father that he is. I’m proud of the husband. That has nothing to do with where he plays or where he played. Those are the things that are important. We reach out and text each other during the good things that happen to each other. Sometimes things don’t go so well for the people that you’re close with, and you text for those as well. It’s a two-way street of support and reminders of what got us to where we are here today.”
We already knew he has an ongoing close relationship with Brown. I don’t think this means anything. Plus, if Vrabel was determined to land Brown via trade — and he might, depending on the deal – you would think he
