WEEI Bosto_2025-10-07_16h31:46

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Who deserves more credit for this season's turnaround- Vrabel or Maye?  Could Mike Vrabel win Coach of Year?

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00:00My coach of the year in the NFL, Mike Vrabel.

00:03Yeah, I think Vrabel has definitely unlocked Drake May

00:07or maybe Josh McDaniels and what Drake May is doing,

00:11decision-making, putting him in the right position.

00:13So, like, you could always give credit to coaches for that.

00:16Coaches can make quarterbacks, but they can also break quarterbacks.

00:19I think, Vrabel, it's about the culture

00:21and maybe the way that these guys are buying into it.

00:27That's what I was going to say is Vrabel's more culture-based,

00:29whereas Drake May, you should just give him credit himself

00:31because this is his second season.

00:33I know he didn't play all season last year, but he improved.

00:36He didn't have that sophomore slump where he came in

00:38and was a different guy than we saw the first season.

00:41He built upon the skill set that he already had.

00:43So that's on Drake May.

00:45But that's Josh.

00:46But it's also on Drake.

00:47No, no, no, and I'm not taking that away from Drake,

00:49but I'm saying it's, you know, is Drake May the same guy

00:54without a good offensive coordinator?

00:57But I think Vrabel deserves some credit for that, too.

01:00Like, I think Josh deserves a lot of credit

01:01for the mental makeup that Drake May now currently has.

01:06Like, we could all see Drake May was athletically gifted

01:09when he came into the NFL,

01:10but his current mental situation, like, how confident he is,

01:14what he's doing on a down-by-down basis,

01:16I think Mike Vrabel and especially Josh McDaniels

01:19get a lot of credit for that.

01:20I feel like Vrabel really timed this perfectly

01:24because you didn't replace Bill, you replaced Mayo.

01:29You have consecutive four-win seasons before yours,

01:33and you are allowed to play the quarterback

01:35that everybody knew was the future starting in week one.

01:39And the runway that he's been given, the coaching staff he has,

01:42the budget that he's been able to use.

01:44And the, as of right now, five games in,

01:48looks like the first draft pick of Vrabel's tenure

01:51was a home run.

01:53I mean, we were talking about Will Campbell.

01:55Who could forget the breathless anxiety from Andy Hart

01:57every afternoon about how bad he was?

01:59The offensive line is the worst in the NFL.

02:01Remember that?

02:02Yeah.

02:02We don't ever talk about that anymore, do we?

02:04The biggest compliment that you can give a guy

02:06playing that position is you don't hear his name,

02:09and you do not.

02:10Where do those people go?

02:12What happened?

02:12Did Andy Hart say I was wrong?

02:14I mean that.

02:15I hope so.

02:16A lot of credit to Doug Marone with that offensive line.

02:18But think of all the coaches.

02:19Doug Marone, former NFL coach.

02:21Josh McDaniels, former NFL coach.

02:23You have a staff that's actually experienced

02:25with the quarterback that's ready

02:26and a roster that's improved.

02:28I think Vrabel had a perfect timing to get back here,

02:30and I think he's exactly what the team needed.

02:33Well, and he inherited a roster that was bereft

02:36and was able to, you know,

02:38I don't underestimate the value of some of the veteran guys

02:41that he was able to bring in that he was familiar with,

02:45and there are guys that he likes

02:46and guys that play the way he wants to play.

02:49Do you remember the Andrew Callahan tweet

02:51that Drake Bay was sacked like 82 times in a practice?

02:55It's like, maybe don't take it so seriously.

02:58If you can't actually hit the quarterback,

03:00and he's not really allowed to walk away from pressure,

03:02maybe it's not the same as a sack in an actual NFL game.

03:05It's really Vrabel's guys,

03:06because if you really look at it

03:08on both sides of the football,

03:11it's other than two guys,

03:15Drake May, who was here before Vrabel,

03:18and Hunter Henry.

03:19But the rest of it is really about Vrabel

03:22and the guys that he brought in.

03:24On the offensive side of the football,

03:26you talk about Will Campbell,

03:28you talk about Jared Wilson, the other rookie,

03:30you even talk about the center, Bradbury,

03:32you look at Moses at right tackle.

03:35Four out of five guys he brought in.

03:37Steph Diggs at your wide receiver position.

03:39Well, and I give credit to, you know,

03:41certainly to Drake May and to Steph Diggs

03:44when it comes to the development of that relationship,

03:47but probably Josh McDaniels gets a lot of credit on that.

03:50Josh gets most of the credit.

03:52How are you going to say most of the credit, though?

03:54Because all offseason, it was Drake and Steph meeting up.

03:57We saw so many photos, videos of them taking the time.

03:59Josh McDaniels wasn't there for that.

04:01That relationship, I'm just saying,

04:03that relationship started far before preseason.

04:06What relationship?

04:07The relationship between Drake and Steph,

04:10the relationship Drake continued to build

04:11with Hunter Henry, other guys,

04:13that were meeting up before any coaches were involved.

04:15Yeah, but he was probably meeting with Josh way before.

04:19But Josh wasn't there when they were cultivating

04:21that relationship.

04:21No, no, no, I'm not talking,

04:22but that's routes versus air.

04:24That's just about running routes.

04:25They made the effort to build upon something,

04:27and that's credit to them.

04:29Right, right, but they were doing that last year.

04:31Every year, quarterbacks...

04:32Steph Diggs wasn't here last year.

04:33No, no, but every year, quarterbacks and wide receivers,

04:35they get together as a group, they go out there,

04:37they run routes together, and they build this relationship.

04:41But at the end of the day,

04:42it's about that offensive coordinator

04:45and that quarterback coming together

04:47and the offense that's put together.

04:49But Shime told you he stinks.

04:51Well, look, I still think on a down-by-down basis,

04:55Josh McDaniel's play calling is average.

04:57Down-by-down basis.

04:59No, but when you take into account...

05:02You butt-hooked me.

05:03When you take into account all of the stuff he has done

05:05with Drake off of the game field,

05:08I think that is where you get the value of Josh McDaniels.

05:11The understanding of the game,

05:13the understanding of situations,

05:15the understanding how to run an offense,

05:17I think that's where Josh McDaniels has his value.

05:19And when you hear Brady talk,

05:21and this is, if you watch Brady and he does the broadcast,

05:24and when he talks about quarterbacks

05:25and how they can throw their receivers open,

05:28how they can put the ball in the right place,

05:29and he credits a lot of that to him and Josh's conversations,

05:34those are the things that I'm talking about

05:35that Josh McDaniels is doing for Drake May.

05:38Hey, when we're running, you know, the back pylon,

05:42make sure we're throwing the ball here.

05:44Please don't bring up the back pylon.

05:45I'm just using that as an example.

05:47I don't want to hear back pylon.

05:48I'm just using that.

05:49No, no, no, Wiggy's great.

05:50Wiggy's definitely right.

05:51I'm just using that as an example.

05:53So what he's doing is teaching Drake May,

05:55okay, here's where we need to be.

05:57Here's where we need to go with the football.

05:59In this situation,

06:00make sure that you're looking the safety off.

06:02Like, these are all the things

06:04that Josh McDaniel is teaching Drake May.

06:07And I'm not saying Drake May doesn't have the talent,

06:10but you see when you have a good offensive coordinator.

06:13Give him his S also.

06:14The man has lived his whole life with an S.

06:17Give it to Josh McDaniels.

06:19All right, give him the S.

06:20It gets confusing because Mike McDaniel

06:22and then Josh McDaniels.

06:24I like Drop Kicks Murphy.

06:26That's my favorite.

06:27Mr. Josh McDaniel.

06:29Put the S on it.

06:30Greg, I also think...

06:32Put the S on his name.

06:33Yeah, I always put the S on McDaniels.

06:35Well, you just didn't.

06:36I mean, put the S.

06:37Get the man his S.

06:38He's been so big, he has to be plural.

06:41Greg, the other thing is

06:43the existence of McDaniels on the staff

06:46has really helped make the absence for health

06:49and, you know, obviously fighting cancer

06:51for the defensive coordinator,

06:52I think, more manageable for the organization

06:55because Vrabel, I'm sure,

06:58has been spending a lot of time

07:00game planning with the defense

07:02knowing that the offense is in control

07:05of the hands of Josh McDaniels.

07:07So, I...

07:08Because we all thought...

07:09I mean, just think about

07:11where we were after week one.

07:12Yeah.

07:13And how demoralizing that Raiders game was

07:16and where they are now and I...

07:19The other thing is

07:20should people not react week to week?

07:24Like, should you just say the same thing

07:26regardless of what the outcome of each game is?

07:29Like, I find that to be fascinating.

07:31Like, did anybody think

07:33they would win the way they did Sunday night?

07:35No.

07:36Okay.

07:36What was the one thing

07:38we hadn't seen from Drake May?

07:39Well, Nate Burleson did.

07:40Well, that's right.

07:40Well, he's much smarter.

07:41Yes, he did.

07:42What's the one thing

07:43that Drake May had yet to do

07:44prior to Sunday night?

07:45Fourth quarter comeback.

07:46What is the toughest environment

07:48Drake May has played in so far?

07:49Last night.

07:50Or Sunday night.

07:51And he was able to do

07:52the one thing he hadn't been able to do

07:53against the best quarterback he's facing

07:55in the most difficult environment to do it

07:57and we're supposed to say status quo?

08:00Yeah.

08:00No, you base it off of what you see

08:02week to week.

08:02You get excited.

08:03Right.

08:04So if the next three weeks

08:05they lose,

08:06then you'll go,

08:07oh man,

08:07what the hell is going on here?

08:09It'll be,

08:10but it'll be an absolute disaster

08:12if that happens.

08:13And Courtney was right

08:14and that was the Bills'

08:15one wonky loss of the season.

08:16But we'll view it as that

08:18and we'll talk about it that way.

08:20But our expectations now,

08:22or at least my expectations are,

08:24the next four weeks,

08:26you beat Tennessee,

08:28you beat the Saints,

08:29you beat Cleveland,

08:30and you beat Atlanta,

08:31and then you go down to the Bucs

08:32and, okay,

08:34that's a game.

08:35You can win,

08:36but if you lose that game,

08:39no big deal.

08:39You should beat the absolute bag

08:42out of the Titans in two weeks.

08:43I don't care how it is.

08:45I don't care if it's by two points or 20.

08:47If you win these games,

08:48it's a win.

08:49You can't have any,

08:50this is not a contest

08:52where you can worry about

08:53how things appear.

08:53Yeah,

08:53I don't really care how it is,

08:54but they should win.

08:56If they win,

08:56like you said,

08:57Curtis,

08:57the next four games

08:58by a combined five points,

09:01I got no issues with it.

09:02Right.

09:03You go to Tampa

09:04and that's a game that,

09:05all right,

09:05hey,

09:05maybe you'll lose that game

09:06by a field goal or a touchdown.

09:08And then we look at that game

09:11and go,

09:11okay,

09:11here's why they lost.

09:12They could have did this better than this.

09:14And then you go,

09:15your next games

09:16and you go,

09:16all right,

09:16the next braille challenge

09:17that you're going to have

09:18is against the Bills at home.

09:20And I want pressure applied to Kraft

09:22by the fans and the media

09:24the way we do it with the Red Sox.

09:26They have a month or so

09:27before the deadline.

09:29Less than that.

09:29They have more cash

09:31than you could ever need.

09:32They have clear needs

09:34on the,

09:34you know,

09:35skill position,

09:36line,

09:36whatever you want to say.

09:38It would be inexcusable

09:39for them not to pursue

09:40a wide receiver.

09:42Running back.

09:43Yeah.

09:43Which shouldn't take much.

09:44Like,

09:45they should absolutely

09:46be adding between now and then.

09:48It would be right after

09:49the Falcons game

09:50heading into Tampa Bay

09:52is when the trade deadline

09:53would be.

09:54And that would be

09:55your position to say,

09:56what are we doing here

09:58as a team moving forward?

10:00Is there a position

10:00we can improve on?

10:02Is there an area

10:02of the football team

10:03we need to get better at?

10:05Who are we calling

10:06to see if we can get,

10:07because I remember

10:07when the Pats did it,

10:08oh man,

10:09I don't remember

10:09what year it was,

10:10but a major difference

10:11that year is when

10:13they went out

10:13and got Aqib Tlaib.

10:14Yeah.

10:15Huge.

10:15And so,

10:16like,

10:16that was right

10:17at the trade deadline

10:17and he played

10:19a major role.

10:20I think he helped you

10:21win a Super Bowl,

10:21correct?

10:22I believe so.

10:23You know,

10:24it's been so long ago,

10:25but.

10:25I think that was

10:26in the drought

10:26between Super Bowls.

10:27He might have helped

10:27you get to one.

10:28Okay.

10:29All right.

10:29But he was a guy

10:31that major,

10:32you needed help

10:33at the cornerback position.

10:34So,

10:35maybe that's something

10:36that you kind of look at.

10:38Hey,

10:38guess what?

10:38If Steph Diggs

10:39looks like the old

10:40Steph Diggs,

10:40maybe you don't roll

10:41the dice and go get

10:42a wide receiver.

10:43Yeah,

10:43he did not win.

10:44Maybe you feel good

10:45about it.

10:46Right.

10:46But no matter

10:47what they do,

10:49when it comes to receiver,

10:51trade whatever

10:52the pick is.

10:53This is now

10:53an organizational failure

10:55for 25 years.

10:56You cannot draft receivers.

10:58So,

10:59use a draft pick

11:00for a known commodity

11:01at that position.

11:03I don't know.

11:03Taequann Thornton

11:04looks pretty good.

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