- 2 days ago
Patriots HC Mike Vrabel joins live! The Greg Hill Show!
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00:00Coach Vrabel, good morning.
00:02Hi, good morning.
00:04Virtual victory shot since we're not down there this morning?
00:10Yeah, I guess so.
00:11Do we want Stretch to do one?
00:13Yeah.
00:15Is Stretch, is he right there in the office with you?
00:18Yeah, he doesn't.
00:19He sits three feet from me.
00:21Stretch.
00:23Victory shot Monday.
00:24You ready, buddy?
00:27He's excited this morning.
00:28All right.
00:29Sure he is.
00:30Okay, Stretch.
00:32How was it?
00:35The best.
00:37Congrats.
00:38You're welcome.
00:39Can we just get a, like a, you know, a yo from Stretch or something?
00:43Just so we know it's an actual real person that's there.
00:47Stretch, can they say what they want to yo from you?
00:49Just be like, yo.
00:52Yo.
00:53Nailed it.
00:55Told you.
00:56What up, Stretch?
00:57Hello, Stretch.
00:58Well, I, at least on television, sounded like, almost like a home game yesterday.
01:05These fans travel for you, Coach.
01:07Well, we, we've, we've talked about giving them reasons to travel and reasons to cheer.
01:15We appreciate it.
01:16Certainly loved seeing everybody around the hotel when we got there and on the way to the
01:21game and at the game.
01:23And again, that's, we appreciate that.
01:25And we're thankful for that.
01:26We know that that's not, uh, those trips aren't easy or cheap.
01:31You know what I mean?
01:32That those are commitments.
01:33And we appreciate that from our fans.
01:35Mike, one of the areas where you guys really had a tremendous job was the running game.
01:40Who is this?
01:40Hold on.
01:40Who is this?
01:41Who is this?
01:42Uh, it's, uh, Jermaine Wiggins.
01:43It's Jermaine Wiggins.
01:44Former New England Patriots tight end, Jermaine Wiggins.
01:47Oh, okay.
01:48All right.
01:49Good morning.
01:49Tell Stretch I said, what's up?
01:50He's not going to say it himself, but he is somewhat upset that Rob Gronkowski announced
01:56he will sign a one day contract to retire as a New England Patriot tight end.
02:02And Wiggie is, I don't know if Stretch can do anything about this, but Wiggie is still,
02:07still waiting for his offer on that, on the one dayer.
02:11Wiggie, we could, we can have you sign a blank piece of paper and make it look like it's a
02:15contract.
02:15Don't worry about that.
02:16I appreciate that.
02:17That's how they do those things.
02:18Those aren't even real contracts.
02:19Yeah.
02:20Listen, I appreciate that.
02:21I'd prefer the salary anyways.
02:23I didn't do that.
02:24Hey, buddy.
02:24I didn't do that either.
02:25Don't worry about it.
02:26I know.
02:26She got a red jacket.
02:27It wasn't, it wasn't, it wasn't that important.
02:31Well, I haven't still, I technically haven't retired.
02:34So I never, never, never know when you, when you look at your running game, what was
02:40the difference yesterday versus previous weeks where you guys were really able to take
02:46advantage of, of, of, you know, making some big plays in your running game?
02:50Well, I mean, I think that's really what it comes down to is being able to, to break
02:54a couple of those.
02:55And we knew going in, it was going to be tough, tough sledding.
03:00It's a good run defense.
03:01It's a good defense.
03:03It's big physical defense.
03:04And I thought the way that the game was, it allowed us to stay in that mode of being
03:11able to stay balanced and run the football.
03:14And, you know, there were some clunkers in there.
03:16I get it.
03:17And I've been through that before.
03:19And then, and then you break one.
03:21And, and then obviously at the end of the game, they're being able to break the one there
03:25in the five minutes.
03:26So I, I think it just comes down to, you know, when you, when you have to, when you hit those
03:32big ones in this league or any league, you're going to have to block the secondary and somebody's
03:37going to have to make somebody miss or break a tackle.
03:40Like that's just kind of what happened.
03:42So I think we, we were able to get the secondary force and then we, we ran away from, from the
03:49guy that we needed to, that we didn't have blocked.
03:52You, you appreciate Travion checking with you on the go ahead on going into the end zone
03:56on that.
03:57Well, I mean, obviously, you know, we're, we didn't want to win in those situations.
04:03We don't want to run out of bounds, but the score gets a little different.
04:07I mean, they had two timeouts left.
04:08So I think that, uh, being able to do that for, for Travion was the right thing.
04:14I'm glad that, you know, he checked and was conscious of it.
04:16It just, you know, when we get into those situations out in the field, um, you know,
04:21we want to be conscious of staying in bounds.
04:24So I think he did exactly what, uh, what we asked him to do.
04:28They, you know, they still had two timeouts.
04:30We know how hard it is to score against these guys inside the five yard line.
04:35Mike, Courtney here, um, Travion for, I figured as much, Courtney.
04:40I didn't think that, uh, Curtis, his voice had gotten any higher.
04:44I just wanted to make sure.
04:45Actually, after what you said to him last week, it did get, it got very, it got, it got very,
04:50I actually told the employee to say he got in an accident.
04:53And so we didn't have to be in person today.
04:56So he's, he's fine.
04:57He's fine.
04:58And thanks for asking.
05:00Uh, when it comes to, it was a single car accident.
05:03They ran into the guardrail, apparently it was rainy out there this morning.
05:08So be careful.
05:09I'm thinking of Maddie.
05:10Um, when it comes to Travion, a lot of people calling this is coming out performance.
05:14Where do you stand on that?
05:15And should we expect to see a lot more from him moving forward?
05:18Well, I hope we can expect, I hope we expect to see a lot more from, from everybody.
05:24You know what I mean?
05:25That's what we're going to need.
05:26Uh, we're going to need great performances from, from our coaching staff, from our players,
05:30from, from everybody involved.
05:32Um, I don't, you know, coming out party.
05:36I mean, Travion's had some, some good plays that really helped us, but, you know, being able
05:40to hit a couple of home runs yesterday was, was critical.
05:43You went for it end of the third quarter on fourth and five.
05:47You got first and goal about a minute and 30 seconds left in the half.
05:52And, and you got the, the kind of sneak that's not intended to get in, um, those decisions,
05:58I think, you know, looking at them from the outside, we, we sit here and go, wow, this
06:02guy's got big, you know, big giant cojones.
06:06Uh, how is it when it, when it comes to you making those decisions in game, are you, are
06:11you always going to tend to go for it?
06:13Um, I mean, I think just based on what I felt like we needed and, you know, to be able
06:22to, um, you know, be, we were going to need that to, to score some points.
06:29And I didn't know if the field goal right there was going to be enough and felt good about
06:34our guys and, you know, when critical situations, you think about players and, and not plays.
06:39And so in that situation, Drake and Diggs came through and, um, made that decision the
06:46right one.
06:48Mike, you always talk about how hard it is to win in the NFL, but a sign of a good football
06:52team is being able to win a number of ways and went on the road.
06:56What was your message to the team after a win down in Tampa, uh, to show, talk about, to
07:02show like, Hey, we are a good football team and we know how difficult it is to win in this
07:08league week in and week out.
07:09Well, I mean, I don't necessarily tell them that we're a good football team.
07:13I mean, we're, we're, I mean, I don't mean it like that.
07:16I just say like, that's not part of the message.
07:20The message was yesterday was that this is Wednesday night and tomorrow morning, it's
07:24going to be Thursday.
07:25And we have to think of it like that, uh, as you continue to perform in this league and
07:32win and each and every week gets, gets bigger and bigger and more important.
07:36And, uh, I'm proud of the fact that, you know, we went on the road against a good team, um,
07:44competed, made enough plays to help us win, can still find ways to improve and have to
07:48improve in areas.
07:49Um, but it was about, you know, making sure that we're, we're doing everything we can
07:55to, to win the, the physical recovery matchup, uh, against the Jets this week.
08:01Mike, the performance from Steph Diggs yesterday was excellent again, obviously a big role in
08:07the passing game and took the lick to get the, uh, onside kick to seal the win.
08:12What is it about him that you may have, did, did you expect this from him in the second
08:17part is the, the unselfish nature of your receiving core week to week where yesterday, Matt Collins
08:24has a big day.
08:24Pop Douglas doesn't have quite the numbers in the ability of those guys to accept their
08:29roles.
08:30Is that from Steph Diggs?
08:31Do you think that his leadership has allowed those other guys to do that?
08:35I think it was just providing a competitive environment.
08:38I think that, um, you know, they've, it's proven that most of the time that when you're
08:45open, uh, the quarterback's going to be able to get you the ball and, um, that's proven
08:52to, to be factual.
08:54Um, so I think that they, they support each other.
08:59I think they realize that this is what it's going to be, you know, that everybody's going
09:02to play and everybody's going to have a role and, uh, each and every week you have to just
09:06be ready for when those things come up.
09:08And certainly, uh, Steph is, is leading that group and Mac is, and I appreciate that.
09:14And Todd Downing's, you know, done a really good job of making sure that those guys are
09:17prepared for multiple positions and multiple spots.
09:20And, um, you know, we're going to need, we're going to need all that we can get here, uh,
09:26come, you know, moving forward until, you know, Kay Sean's back and then we'll continue to do
09:31what we've done on the Drake interception look like you were, uh, telling him to calm
09:37down before that play is, is that just a young quarterback who's, who's trying to force a
09:43play there?
09:46Uh, yeah.
09:48I mean, I think that that's just, you know, extending down in the red zone and, and making
09:54a bad decision and, you know, understand that it's not there, if the play's not there, but
09:59that we had designed and if he didn't like it, well, then that's sometimes it happens.
10:03And then you extend.
10:05And then now when you extend, you got to make great decisions.
10:08And that, that wasn't one of them.
10:10Drake struggled a little bit when the weather turned, the rain, uh, obviously a factor.
10:14How do you make sure that that gets better, uh, as the season goes on, if you have more
10:18games with bad weather?
10:20Yeah, we just make sure we don't play in bad weather games, Corny.
10:23That's such a control that too.
10:25I just didn't know if you had like a rain simulator at practice.
10:28I don't know.
10:30Technology these days.
10:31I do the 30 minute, I got the 30 minute math the night before the game.
10:34So we're good.
10:35I'll, I'll pray for good weather.
10:37There you go.
10:37Use the wet, wet balls.
10:39Mike, you, you always talk.
10:41Excuse me?
10:42Go ahead.
10:42What?
10:43No, I was going to say.
10:44What?
10:45Use the wet balls?
10:46Yes, I got you.
10:46Yes, I understand.
10:47Mike, you always talk about, um.
10:48I think it was singular.
10:49I don't think it was plural.
10:50It was just the wet ball.
10:52Right.
10:52You always talk about, you know, being able to fix some of the issues, you know, some
10:58of the mistakes that you might've made throughout the game.
11:00If you look at the first touchdown, uh, by Njigba, was it like a blown coverage?
11:06It looked like you guys might've been in man and Marcus Jones might've thought it was his
11:09own call.
11:10Is this something that, you know, based off of looking at this?
11:12No, everybody knew what the call was.
11:14Okay.
11:14You know, I mean, everybody knew what the call was.
11:16It just wasn't executed correctly.
11:18And, uh, you know, giving them credit, they made a play.
11:21We didn't.
11:22Mike, last week you said that after the deadline that you don't really, you can't be half pregnant.
11:28Either a deal is done or it's not.
11:30Uh, were you trying to get pregnant and deals fell through?
11:35Or was this something where you approached the deadline and saw the amount of picks that
11:40you needed to hit on next year and you saw that they were too valuable to give up for
11:44short-term rentals?
11:45Well, I mean, I don't think, um, and again, I wasn't, I mean, I guess I'm trying to be
11:51funny sometimes.
11:52I don't know.
11:52I'm just saying like it either gets done or it doesn't.
11:56Everybody in the personnel department worked, you know, and tried to be diligent, but we
12:02didn't feel like just adding players to add players.
12:06There was conversations about different things and those things didn't work out.
12:09And, um, you know, just decided that it wasn't the right, right thing for us.
12:16And, you know, that's kind of where it was.
12:19And so, you know, moving forward here, we'll have to find ways to, you know, especially this
12:25week on a, on a short week, uh, figure out who we have, who's available and where we can,
12:30we can try to, you know, add, add some players or use some players from the practice squad.
12:35There was some talk that the philosophy is kind of, uh, this is just year one of a bunch
12:44of them.
12:44Is that kind of the way you guys are looking at it down there?
12:49Uh, well, it is, it's, it is year one.
12:52We're not going to be able to change that.
12:54I don't think that, you know, um, yeah, I mean, I think that we're, we're just trying
13:02to make good, sound decisions, uh, for the football team, uh, for our players, for everybody
13:08involved.
13:09Uh, and when we feel like there, there's good decisions to, to be made, we'll, we'll try to
13:16make them, but you know, I don't, wouldn't read into too much of that.
13:21Like, well, we're, I just think that it was kind of how it went and, uh, you know, we're
13:29going to do everything we can each and every week to, to win, to put our guys in a good
13:33position, try to manage the game and let them, let them go make, make plays and, and continue
13:39to grow.
13:40Always like to give you the chance on this show to, to clear things up that are floating
13:45around out in the, out in the ether.
13:46Um, and there was a report last week that the Titans owner, Amy Adams Strunk was unwilling
13:54to talk trades with this team.
13:56Is, is, is that accurate or is that just nonsense?
13:59I haven't talked to Amy since the day she fired me.
14:02So I, I, her name and my name should not be in the same sentence together because I haven't
14:08talked to her since the day she fired me.
14:11You keep bringing up the short week.
14:12Obviously after the game, you kept talking about how the guys earned being tired.
14:17How do you balance getting ready for the Jets on Thursday while also making sure these guys
14:20are well rested?
14:22Yeah, today's, I mean, it was not going to be much physical, um, activity.
14:27Um, they like it, they're like a week, normal week at Wiggy's house.
14:31It's not going to be a lot of physical activity.
14:34That's a good one.
14:35Not much activity there.
14:37And so, uh, so we just have to try to get the mental prep and, and again, all hands are
14:46on deck this morning, uh, Jim, Balm and, and Frank and everybody in his staff.
14:53And I mean, all hands are on deck this morning so that we can get guys in, get them through
14:58massages, get them through treatment, get them through a recovery lift, uh, everything that
15:03we could possibly do, or we're going to try to do an offer.
15:07Uh, we've tried to schedule guys out.
15:10So there's a flow chart that everybody can get in and get, you know, work through the
15:14day.
15:14Cause you know, guys come in at 1130 and say, well, Hey, there's not a massage available.
15:19Well, yeah, that's cause there's veterans that aren't here.
15:21So we have to start some of these younger guys in here earlier.
15:24Um, so again, I, I'm proud of what the plan that we had in place didn't want to look too
15:31far ahead, but some of this stuff you have to plan for and say, Hey, you know, make sure
15:37we're signing up for this is when the, this is when you're going to start your recovery
15:40on Monday, work through the, the different modalities that we have.
15:44And then we'll have a squad at one o'clock meetings and walk through and, and get them
15:50some more rest and kind of do the same thing on Tuesday.
15:53Couldn't see it that well on television yesterday.
15:56How is the Movember stash coming in?
16:00Not bad.
16:02I mean, not bad.
16:03I think that, you know, I mean, if by the end of this week, it should be pretty good,
16:07but, uh, you know, it is important.
16:10We understand how, how important our health is and certainly, um, being able to focus on,
16:18uh, the prostate cancer or men's health.
16:22And thankful for Gillette for, for supporting us and what we do here and, you know, big
16:28T, uh, going through it, I think makes it even more, uh, special and near and dear to
16:34our heart.
16:34And I think there's some other people here around the building that are partaking in
16:38it.
16:38Uh, they just, you know, may not be as dark as mine, but, but stretch is rocking it.
16:46And there's other people in the building that are, that are rocking the stash too.
16:48So we'll, we'll be in full force.
16:50Um, you, you might tell me to pump the brakes, but does this team remind you at all of the
16:572001 team?
17:00Yeah.
17:00Like that poor guy that got into the accident, he needed to pump the brakes here a little
17:04bit this morning, but, uh, no, I just, it, uh, no, I mean that team in 2001, it was
17:12five and five, um, one, nine games after Thanksgiving, you know, I, I do think that the season starts
17:20now, you know, the NFL season, uh, this is when it starts and we'll have to be, uh, playing
17:27our best each and every week to, to give ourselves a chance.
17:30And so I don't, the comparisons and things are, are, you know, kind of interesting, but
17:38there, we know that they're not that important.
17:39So Mike, there was, there was a point in time where they showed us on the broadcast
17:43yesterday, late in game, had you talking to the defense and look like it was a passionate
17:48conversation, maybe after a touchdown, uh, what, what was your message to the defense in
17:53that moment?
17:56Uh, I remember play better, you know what I mean?
17:59Cover, tackle, rush, you know, play better.
18:03Well, they, they had the, uh, broadcast Romo and Nance.
18:06They had a, uh, a clone graphic of Drake May and Tom Brady and in 01 showing how identical
18:15the numbers were.
18:16So maybe, are you seeing anything?
18:18I know, obviously you're not going to say he's Tom Brady and he's not.
18:20Is there anything about Drake May that gives you faith that he's someone that's not going
18:25to get too high when things are going well?
18:27And that he has a mindset similar to other great quarterbacks in the past?
18:31So their numbers in 2001 were the same?
18:35There was the completion percentage.
18:37There was touchdown interception.
18:39I don't know the rest of them, but it was a, a graphic playing on the Brady cloning of
18:42his dog.
18:43And they said, is this a clone?
18:44Eerily similar.
18:45Yeah.
18:46Eerily similar.
18:46Oh.
18:49Um, yeah, no, I don't, I don't worry about, uh, Drake.
18:55I think that he's going to stay motivated, stay committed to this football team and, you
19:00know, he understands how difficult it is in this league and the matchups and the things
19:05that he has to do.
19:06And, you know, I'm excited that he continues to, you know, lead this team and have success
19:14and we'll just focus on, on, on what we have this week with the Jets.
19:20And he was already, uh, preparing last night on the, on the plane.
19:24Awesome.
19:25All right.
19:25I was just going to say it was a very nice moment and showed what type of coach you are
19:29when Christian Barmore went down and you were holding his hand.
19:31Um, a lot of people talking about that after, but it was a nice moment to watch you and a
19:35player.
19:36And, uh, you guys put a lot out there for us.
19:38These guys, I, this is about the players that it always will be.
19:42And, you know, I don't want to see any of them go down.
19:45And I mean, I don't.
19:46And so, you know, they go out there and, you know, again, I was getting tired.
19:52We had some guys, some guys go down.
19:54And I was getting tired going out there, but, uh, if that's what it takes, then that's
19:58what it takes.
19:59But, uh, it was great to meet your husband last week too, Courtney.
20:03I appreciate him coming up and saying hello.
20:05And, uh, it was nice to, nice to meet him.
20:08That was very nice.
20:09I, he was very nervous coming up to you.
20:11I told, I was half asleep when he got home and told me, and he said he was shaking going
20:15up.
20:15I said, well, I'm sure you nailed it.
20:16Is he, is he, is he at all bothered by the amount of times that you have said on this
20:22show how attractive Mike Crabill is?
20:24No.
20:25So you're twisting words now.
20:26I'm not twisting words.
20:27There was a lead about how a lot of people, both men and women are talking about how he's
20:32the most attractive coach, uh, in the NFL.
20:35Well, and apparently the men on this program don't have eyes.
20:39I don't know if that's, I don't know if that's true or not.
20:41You just, you gotta have a pretty specific, uh, type then if that's the case.
20:46But anyway, he was, he was awesome.
20:48It was nice to meet him.
20:49And, uh, you guys may have a great family.
20:54Well, uh, we will quick turnaround this week, so we will let you and stretch get to work
20:59coach.
21:01Okay.
21:01So I'm not working Friday for you guys, right?
21:03We're not coming Thursday.
21:04It doesn't go into Friday, right?
21:06I mean, it would be nice.
21:07I, I, no, I think.
21:08No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
21:09We're not, you're not getting, you're not, yeah.
21:11If it's not on the schedule, I'm not doing it.
21:14All right.
21:14All right.
21:14We'll do.
21:15Thanks, guys.
21:15Thanks.
21:16We'll be down there Monday.
21:17We'll be down there Monday.
21:19All right.
21:19All right, coach.
21:20Okay.
21:20Thanks, guys.
21:21That's Mike Vrabel.
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