- 2 days ago
- #live
"Moving on"... LUCKY WIN? Patriots HC Mike Vrabel joins #live at Gillette Stadium! What does Vrabel think team did well/didn't do well? Is Vrabel concerned with A.J. Brown? What did Vrabel think of O-line?
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00:00You said post-game, you got lucky, fortunate, whatever.
00:03You didn't see improvement.
00:04Nope, moving on. Here we go.
00:06Moving on?
00:07Yeah.
00:07So just didn't, you know, a win's a win,
00:11but you just didn't feel like it was a...
00:13Looking forward to Thursday night, man.
00:15These guys are good.
00:16Quarterback is really, really good.
00:17Yeah.
00:18It's a physical football team, so we better be prepared.
00:22Should we have any concern at all about A.J. Brown?
00:25Concern? No, I don't think so.
00:26I think we just have to make plays that we're supposed to make
00:28and the ones that we expect ourselves to make.
00:30And I think that, you know, I mean, I like the separation.
00:35Unfortunately, we just have to finish.
00:38So, you know, I mean, I think that that's, you know,
00:41just something that he's done a lot of,
00:44made those plays over the years, and that's kind of what he said.
00:48Okay.
00:48I know you talk about frustration and, you know,
00:51watching some of the game,
00:52but there were some things that I jotted down watching the game.
00:55Yeah, what'd you jotted down?
00:56I thought you guys did an amazing job on the four-minute offense
01:00at the end of the game, which led to you guys going up 10.
01:03That completely, in my opinion, sealed the deal,
01:07which was a six-minute drive or so.
01:09They did.
01:10They did.
01:10And the O-line, you know,
01:12I thought they tried to get off the line of scrimmage
01:15and play on their side of the ball.
01:17I thought Corey ran hard.
01:18I thought Drake did a great job of managing that situation.
01:20So that was something that is critical.
01:23And, again, I just have high expectations for us and what we do.
01:26And, you know, I think that there are always the things we talk about
01:31that are good and the things that we have to improve
01:34and, unfortunately, the ones we have to eliminate.
01:38Going in at halftime,
01:39you had said that you needed the defense to be better early on first
01:42and second downs.
01:43Did you feel like coming out in that second half,
01:44they were able to do that?
01:45Yeah, I thought they did.
01:46I thought they created some third and longer situations
01:49and, you know, stop the run a little bit better in the second half.
01:53What did you see out of Drake in sort of the –
01:56it seems like he really had a clean game,
01:59and that was the difference.
02:00I think there was a few throws that he missed,
02:02but I felt like he was comfortable.
02:05And then I think we went in thinking we were going to get a little bit more
02:08blitz early on than what we did.
02:11And so when that didn't happen,
02:12I think he kind of able to, you know,
02:16progress through what he was looking at.
02:18And certainly, you know, the play there in Rome early was huge.
02:24It was a huge play by Rome to be able to secure that
02:27and for Drake to be able to wait it out.
02:29Wiggy mentioned him earlier, Doug Marone,
02:32with the way the offensive line has played given all the injuries.
02:35How essential has he been to your staff
02:36and sort of what the offensive line has been able to do?
02:39Well, I mean, I think Doug's got a lot of great experience.
02:41I think that whole group does a good job.
02:43I think Doug and Haas and J.D. is a, you know,
02:47it's a three-headed monster that they all work together
02:49and they all try to get each group prepared.
02:54And that's critical.
02:55It's critical when you go through stretches like this
02:57and you have injuries.
02:58And so, you know, Doug and those guys,
03:01to be able to have those guys prepared,
03:03they put a lot of time in.
03:04You know, Matt Pryor was a guy that just got here a couple weeks ago,
03:07and that's not easy when you talk about cadences and plays
03:11and checks and alerts.
03:12And so they've worked hard to get guys like that ready.
03:15And then Walter from the time that he came at the end of camp.
03:20So you look at the Chicago Bears.
03:22I watched a little bit of the game.
03:23They issued that, obviously, a guy like Caleb Williams
03:26creates his ability to be off script.
03:28What's kind of the message this week going in
03:30against a quarterback like that who can, I mean,
03:32yesterday's touchdown pass came from him just, you know,
03:35doing a whole bunch of stuff back there, and guys eventually get open.
03:38What's the message to your defense, especially your D-line, your front seven?
03:42Well, I mean, I think that, you know, you have to just play sound.
03:47You have to play physical, but also understand, you know,
03:51how much he can extend.
03:52And we'll see.
03:53I think that, you know,
03:55he probably didn't scramble to run as much as he had in the past yesterday.
03:59So we'll have to see where he is physically.
04:01But he can hurt you either way.
04:03You know, we'll have to, you know, he breaks a lot of tackles.
04:06He's strong in a pocket.
04:09We'll continue to find ways to turn the football over.
04:14And, you know, the O-line does a really good job.
04:16You know, they're physical.
04:18They run the football.
04:20And the receivers are all active when they do run.
04:23They block really well.
04:25Milton Williams respectfully called you an a-hole,
04:29said that it was one of the things he loves about you,
04:32wouldn't have it any other way.
04:34Do you feel like that's how you get the most out of these guys
04:36and that's how you earn respect with them?
04:40I just try to earn respect by trying to help them the best that I can
04:44and giving them a message and coaching them.
04:47And I try to be as fair and consistent as I possibly can.
04:52And I guess if that makes me come across this in a certain way,
04:56then that's how I come across it.
04:57Is there a fine for that?
04:59For what?
05:00For him using that word?
05:02No.
05:03No, I mean, that's how he feels.
05:06That's how Corey feels.
05:07No.
05:08Bill O'Brien said you were lying,
05:11that he never swore at you after a bad practice
05:14before that post-Thanksgiving game.
05:16He said that he would never, ever, ever swear in a meeting.
05:19Did you guys ask him how to go over?
05:21Yes.
05:24Awesome.
05:25I was like, what difference does it make?
05:26Either J.J. Watt's going to go out and make some plays or he's not.
05:29I don't know what to tell you.
05:31Mike, you talk about high expectations.
05:34Oh, fire alarm.
05:34Fire alarm.
05:35You got to go.
05:35You got to go.
05:37You talk about high expectations that you hold for yourself
05:41and you set a certain standard.
05:43And I know it has to be difficult for guys to come off a win like that,
05:48but also, you know, understanding where the expectations are as a team.
05:53How do you get your players to have the same type of expectations
05:57that you might hold?
05:59They do.
05:59Okay.
06:00They do.
06:00I mean, I don't know.
06:02Ask them.
06:02You know what I mean?
06:03I think that they do.
06:04I think that they know, you know, that it's tough to win
06:08and it's also things that we have to continue to clean up
06:13and you just want to keep improving.
06:16And, you know, we did in some areas.
06:19And then, unfortunately, I think that we have to, you know,
06:23continue to understand that each and every week in this league,
06:25you have to play well to give yourself a chance to win.
06:29And if you don't, it's hard to win.
06:32Mike, you're going to be in Chicago Thursday night.
06:35It's the Bears' first home game following the passing of Mike Ditka.
06:39You share an exclusive club with him as a guy that played and coached in a Super Bowl.
06:44What did Ditka mean to the NFL?
06:47Did you ever have any personal reactions with him?
06:50No, I mean, I just, again, I love the sound bites.
06:54You know, I mean, I love those old shades back in the 80s.
06:57And, again, those were some unbelievable teams that he coached.
07:01You know, he was a really unbelievable Hall of Fame player.
07:05He meant a lot to this league.
07:06And, you know, it's kind of just think about the Bears
07:11and Mike Ditka and Walter Payton.
07:15Pop Douglas postgame talked about losing the ball
07:18and said he's just got to stop trying to do too much.
07:22Is that what you see there?
07:24We turned the ball over.
07:26We turned the ball over at a historic rate, and it's ridiculous.
07:29It's embarrassing.
07:31One of the other things I wrote down, and I said, all right,
07:33I got to ask Rabel about this.
07:35I wrote it down, and I said, maybe he can explain it better.
07:39Probably not.
07:42The Jets, there's a play late in the game with Geno Smith.
07:46It looks like an intentional grounding to me.
07:48He throws it at the back of the running back who's blocking,
07:51picking up a blitz.
07:53No, it's only intentional grounding because of what you saw last week.
07:56That is an incorrect call.
07:58Right.
07:58So what you saw yesterday was correctly officiated.
08:02Okay.
08:03Because I was like, wait a second.
08:04Well, last week they called that an intentional grounding.
08:05No, no, no.
08:06Don't use last week.
08:07No, it's a new week.
08:08Okay.
08:08It's a new week.
08:09But I was just like, you start to look at things,
08:12and do they ever explain?
08:13Because I know.
08:14I don't need an explanation.
08:16I know what the rule is.
08:17They're not really going to tell me, well,
08:18that was probably not supposed to be called.
08:21Why would you ask when you know the answer?
08:23So it's like, that rule is designed to protect the quarterback.
08:27We understand that.
08:29There's a lot of leeway, and if there's an eligible receiver,
08:32whether he's blocking, whether he's standing,
08:35whether he's doing anything,
08:37even close to where the ball lands,
08:40that should be a legal pass.
08:42Mike, the end of game has been a big discussion point
08:45where there were some teams with the commanders being in the news last week
08:49where Jaden Daniels didn't know the timeout situation.
08:53What is the Patriots' communication like in those situations?
08:57Did it just stretch to you, you to the coordinator?
09:01How does that work behind the scenes,
09:03if you could let the Pats fan know how the end-of-game communication works?
09:07So on the belt pack, I have offense, defense,
09:10and then the secret bat phone to stretch.
09:15And so I just click back and forth.
09:19And it's like, you know, the producer, you know what I mean?
09:22You're pressing buttons, and it's back and forth,
09:24and it's like, hey, what are you thinking here?
09:26Let's, you like this stretch?
09:28And then we'll talk quickly, and I'll get back over.
09:31And, you know, a lot of these things,
09:33they're just trying to be a playhead and understanding, you know,
09:36how quickly with the clock moving that a situation could go from,
09:42hey, we're going to center the ball and clock it,
09:46or, hey, get down on the play clock.
09:48Now we're going to use some different mechanisms that if we don't have a timeout.
09:52So we try to review those situations each and every week.
09:59And you never know when one of them is going to come up,
10:01and there is a lot.
10:02And you don't want to overdo the players because it is, you know,
10:06you don't want to just detract from what they, a normal game plan.
10:10So they're thinking, oh, my gosh, I have to worry about this situation.
10:12Well, not necessarily.
10:14Like, we're going to help you through that situation.
10:16We're going to try to talk you through it.
10:18And ultimately the quarterback, you know,
10:21has to communicate to the other guys in the huddle.
10:23You can only talk to the quarterback.
10:25And so you try to make it, you know, put it on the quarterback, I think,
10:30through the coordinator.
10:31And I have to be clear about what we're going to do, you know,
10:35whether we think we can get it clocked or we need a chunk or, you know,
10:41we had a good meeting on Friday with the team about a lot of the situations.
10:44It's, you know, I think every probably four weeks you try to get a little deeper
10:51into the situations, maybe the ones that you don't normally do on Friday
10:56that we do each and every week.
10:58And then you kind of do some of the outlier ones on, you know,
11:01a Friday maybe every three or four weeks just to say, hey,
11:05this hasn't really come up yet, but, you know,
11:07we could always be in this situation.
11:10The ones that are probably more often than not, we hit every Friday.
11:15I don't want you to look past Thursday night,
11:17but did I see that you're hosting or judging a dog Halloween costume contest
11:23out here next weekend?
11:24Yeah.
11:25Okay.
11:26I just don't know where it's at, but I'm going to be a part of it.
11:29Yeah.
11:29Okay.
11:31Patriots.
11:32The Patriots.
11:33How old?
11:33Are you a dog?
11:34Are you a dog lover?
11:35Of course.
11:36Are you kidding me?
11:37You've never seen me walking bullet in the, in the seaport district.
11:40I've never seen you walk.
11:43You know, that's not nice.
11:45All right.
11:46But that's happening out here and you'll be a judge.
11:48What?
11:48Yeah.
11:49Is bullet coming?
11:50Maybe we'll bring bullet.
11:52Maybe we'll bring bullet and come down here.
11:53Dress him up.
11:54You're a dog guy.
11:56I used to be.
11:57No, he's a cat lover.
11:58No, I don't want no responsibilities.
12:00When my dog died, that was it.
12:01That was the last one for me.
12:03I said, no more responsibilities.
12:05My kids are all grown.
12:06I don't want to have to.
12:07Now he's a glam paw.
12:08Yeah, because I'm the one taking the dog out and picking up the poop.
12:11You know how it is when you have a dog.
12:12Are you a dog lover?
12:14I love dogs.
12:15I just don't own them.
12:16Yeah.
12:16Yeah.
12:17Okay.
12:17I have Harry.
12:1854 pound Labradoodle.
12:20Yeah.
12:20Oh, dogs.
12:21Love dogs.
12:21Love dogs forever.
12:22Do you have?
12:23I have a dog named Pudge who passed, and I'm in between.
12:26Going to get a new dog soon, though, I think.
12:28Yeah, I think you should.
12:28I'll come to be a Halloween event.
12:30We'll adopt one.
12:31I think I want like a little one.
12:32You know what I mean?
12:32Just put the pocket.
12:35Bring it to the game.
12:36The little Taco Bell dog.
12:38The little Chihuahua.
12:39Those things are violent, though.
12:41The smaller they are, the more violent they are.
12:43You had that big bag going into the game yesterday.
12:44You could fit one right in there.
12:46The photo of you going into the game in your outfit.
12:49There was a photo?
12:49Yeah.
12:50There was.
12:50That's a nice bag.
12:51Was it like a fit check photo?
12:53Yeah.
12:53All right.
12:53He's always wearing the vest.
12:55I think you were doing the loafers, no socks.
12:57Yeah.
12:58Always loafers, no socks.
12:59Really?
12:59You like that look?
13:01Careful.
13:01It's getting cold.
13:02It's just easy.
13:02It's easy.
13:03Yeah, it is.
13:03It's getting cold out here.
13:04Yeah, it is.
13:04All right, Coach.
13:05We'll let you get to work.
13:07Appreciate it.