- 6 days ago
Patriots HC Mike Vrabel joins LIVE from Gillette Stadium ! What did Vrabel think of the 2nd preseason game? Thoughts on defense?
Vrabel discusses team depth- Greg: "Is that kind of a not so subtle message to the Front Office?"
Vrabel discusses team depth- Greg: "Is that kind of a not so subtle message to the Front Office?"
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00Morning, Mike Vrabel. Good morning. How are you? Fantastic. How are you guys?
00:03Can I interest you in a blueberry? Handpicked from Maine. Yeah, handpicked
00:08from Maine. Please help yourself. I would ask
00:12when you were establishing the identity for this football
00:16team and you chose the orange,
00:20did you ever consider the blueberry as one of the
00:24options? You could insert anything. Okay.
00:27It's just a figure. Okay.
00:31It could have been a pineapple. It could have been a pomegranate. Okay.
00:35It was just that that's what you're going to be when there's
00:38pressure and when things get
00:42tough and there's adversity, which there always is, that was just
00:46the breath. Apparently that made the cutting room floor. I didn't
00:50see it. Yeah, I think it's a part of the show.
00:53I think that there, and it seems like guys
00:56are referencing it and talking about how the identity of this team
00:59is the orange. So you cut through it. It's not necessarily
01:02the orange. Okay. The orange, again, is just
01:04a reference. That's what it is. You can't really
01:07change it once it's. Well, I'm just here to speak on behalf
01:09of other fruits who are upset that they weren't. Speak for yourself.
01:13Have some meat. You're wasting away. Speak for yourself.
01:16That's always the best way. They weren't chosen.
01:19Thoughts on preseason game number two. I know you're
01:21we're not that happy with the defense first half.
01:24I thought we had a very spirited effort in the second half. I felt like
01:28that the guys were competing. I felt like
01:31they operationally and just defensively, we got some stops on fourth down.
01:36You know, we gave up a play, but then the offense came back and I thought there
01:39was a lot of really good things and a lot of really good efforts in the second
01:42half. Found yourself an emergency punter. Sure. Yeah. How did that come about?
01:48Uh, we needed a punter and, uh, that was the first option I went to. He, he, he had been
01:53advocating for it. Nope. Nope. This was, uh, this was just, uh, being able to, to, you
01:59know, figure out what we need. We have got to have emergency snapper, emergency punter,
02:04different things like that throughout the season. And, you know, felt like that was necessary
02:08at the time. Um, we've been talking a little bit. Plus it opens up so many fake possibilities.
02:14We could drop back and throw it from 15 yards when he's back there. Ooh. Okay. You want
02:18Shime to design a play for you? Shime, uh, designed to play for a Bill O'Brien.
02:23Didn't work out. Didn't quite work out that way, but Shime, would you be interested in designing a
02:29play for coach? I'd be happy to give it my best shot. Okay. What was the play that he tried
02:33to give
02:33Billy O? Shime? I was, it was, you know, a real, really complicated play out of, uh, trips,
02:4013 personnel, you know, it was a whole thing.
02:44Football guy. Guru. Yeah. You know, he did compare me to Ernie Adams. Is that,
02:48is that a compliment? Yeah. Kid nose ball. Is that a compliment? It only works if it
02:55gains yards. Yes, that is true. Um, what, uh, what, what caught a lot of people's attention
03:01was you post game talking about the lack of depth on this team. And I know you did it,
03:06uh, in regard to, uh, your thoughts about the starters, not, not, not playing. Um, but was that
03:15a, is that kind of a not so subtle message to the front office about, Hey, we need some,
03:20we need some work. I mean, we are the front office, you know what I mean? Like we're all
03:23making decisions. Yeah. I'm just saying it's, we're all included in this. No, it was about
03:28the young guys that we have to develop. And the, you could see that the players that we kept out
03:34of the game, that those are the guys. And then we have to be able to find some guys behind
03:39them
03:40to be backups, be first guy in and be the, you know, third outside linebacker, be the third
03:47inside linebacker, be the sixth offensive lineman. You know what I mean? These things that are so
03:51critical, be, you know, mean to be the third safety. And so those are the things that we're trying
03:55to develop. And I guess that's what I was referencing. If I can walk back and I've already
04:01talked to Elliot this morning. I mean, these aren't issues that, uh, there's, there's not,
04:06I'm not in a subtle comments, you know what I mean? That wasn't that it was just,
04:10they asked why we didn't play the guys and we got to have everybody that we have available and then
04:16continue to develop and see some guys that went out and played, uh, like they did on Saturday night
04:21to, to continue to build that depth. When you compare it to last preseason and
04:25Drake did play in that second preseason game, was that because you needed to see
04:29because he was a young guy and he didn't have a full season of starting under his belt?
04:33I, I, I couldn't even tell you, I couldn't even remember what happened Saturday before
04:37the game, let alone what happened last preseason. I figured that this is what we needed this year.
04:42And, uh, up at that point, we just played upwards of probably, I don't know, 40 snaps each day.
04:50Maybe they got 30 the second day, uh, against Philly, but I felt like that was work, good work.
04:55And I don't think that that's, you know, would have been smart either. We weren't going to practice
05:00them against Philly on, um, on Thursday or we were going to practice and then not play the game.
05:06So why don't you have a good depth?
05:10Well, I mean, I think that, uh, you know, when you look at how you want to be constructed,
05:17we have to continue to draft very well. We have to continue to develop those late round picks,
05:23the guys that we can find that can be interior offensive linemen that can be, um, special teams,
05:31linebackers, which is what we're hoping, you know, when you look at, you know, Nam and Khalil,
05:36um, you know, drafting some, some edge guys that you can develop and that maybe haven't played
05:42necessarily, uh, this three, four defense in the, in the past, but that you're, you're developing.
05:49And, you know, that, that's just, uh, kind of where we were constructed and that's, you know,
05:54I think we can always work to improve that. And that's, you know, you just know that through
06:00the course of the season, you're going to need so many of those guys, um, just because things are
06:06going to happen and, and we have to be ready to play games, you know, without the, those frontline
06:11guys. And that, that's on us to be able to, to, uh, get these guys ready to go.
06:16It's a long season. And then if you take into consideration a post-season, which we all hope
06:20to see you guys in again, does that worry you that the depth is, isn't there in your mind?
06:26No, I mean, listen to you guys, we, we, I don't want to waste your guys' time on this. This
06:28is,
06:29you know, it's not very much different. I just, you know, when I, when I look and, and I see,
06:34uh, why guys played or didn't play it because I need to, we, we need to feel good about these
06:40guys and we have to develop, uh, these other guys. Plenty of depth at wide receiver. Where
06:45are you this morning on keeping seven guys in that wide receiver? I don't know that we've
06:50had made a decision on how many guys we're going to keep. What you have to do is you have
06:53to figure it out. Who's worthy of being on the 53 man roster. Who's earned it. Um,
06:58and not just say, Hey, we're keeping X amount of this position. We're keeping X just because
07:04you have to, you know what I mean? You have to look at the players on your roster and say,
07:08who earned, uh, the right to, to be on the roster and who earned a roster spot, not who's
07:14the sixth receiver. Who's the, you know, just random numbers that everybody has to keep.
07:22You, you, you just have to decide who's earned the right and then you make it work wherever
07:26you can. Speaking of that, of, uh, 53 man rosters, cut downs, he played in college, played
07:32in the NFL, coached in college, coaching NFL. Um, there are guys this, this go around who
07:37are going to theoretically, uh, not make the NFL team and then go back to college again.
07:44Um, how do you feel about that? Is that good for the game or bad for the game?
07:50I mean, just, I've said this just because you pay him in college doesn't mean there's
07:53any more jobs in the NFL. So just because a guy makes $500,000 in college doesn't mean
07:59that he's going to get a job in the NFL. There's still the same number of teams with
08:02the same number of roster spots. So I would imagine that they should get as much money as
08:08they possibly can, where they can get it, uh, to help provide for their family and whatever
08:12they want to do. And, but just cause you pay a guy $750,000 in college doesn't mean he's
08:19going to get drafted or doesn't mean he's going to make an NFL roster. It's speaking
08:23of, you got a lot of money to spend. Greg does. Uh, speaking of having, uh, doing the
08:27best you can for your family, earning the most you can, uh, Christian Gonzalez remains
08:31the biggest story. And do you think he's being realistic? I mean, Devin Witherspoon's
08:37contract is signed and I, myself, most of us said, okay, now there's the market. This
08:41should get done relatively quickly. Why hasn't it gotten done yet? I don't have anything
08:45to add on Christian. I don't really, I think that, uh, we're working hard and to try to
08:51get him and we want him a part of our team for as long as hell. Certainly I'm here as
08:56long as he can possibly be here. That that's what we want to do. When it comes to Drake,
09:01you brought him up in joint practices. He looked great impressing a lot of people. What's
09:04been the biggest improvement? What looked great about him, Courtney? Uh, well, I thought
09:07that he, his completion percentage was pretty high. I thought his ability to work with AJ Brown
09:11over and over again. I think some of those are sacks and everybody gets this thing overblown.
09:14I hope we don't read everything that's out there on the internet and the social media.
09:18Like we didn't do anything the second day offensively and everybody says we did. I said,
09:23you guys should stand where I'm standing. So I, I, I appreciate the optimism, but we got
09:28a lot of work to do. You're never satisfied. Low T. Oh yeah. Oh, you're dealing with low T?
09:36No, I'm joking. It's just, it's just, everybody has a different spin on it. And I'm like, it's
09:45Drake's been fantastic. And I was just doing that in jest, but it wasn't, you know, we didn't
09:51respond. Like we responded defensively, uh, the other day and, uh, which was good to see
09:57offensively. You just have to realize, cause in the red zone, how critical every alignment,
10:03every yard, every block is cause the yard, you know, yard matters, you know what I mean?
10:08On the eight yard line, a yard matters and, you know, a protection matters to be able
10:11to get the ball off. And yeah, Romeo made a great play, but we may not have gotten it
10:16off or, you know, the timing and the precision, it just wasn't our best day in the red zone.
10:23And that's unfortunate because there was this significant amount of practice was in the red
10:27zone, but, you know, we got things corrected and, you know, hopefully that, that shows up here
10:32today when we practice, uh, the same setting today against each other.
10:36From your perspective, how is Romeo coming along?
10:39I feel like he's, um, I guess him and I, we got to figure out a celebration, you know,
10:44I mean, just get Rome just scores and chucks the ball. He's back in the huddle before it
10:48lands. Um, I really enjoy his, watching him, his confidence grow, playing big and fast.
10:57Um, and I think he's starting to really be comfortable and it just looks like the more
11:02comfortable he gets, the, the, the faster he's been practicing.
11:05You feel like Andy got better, uh, from preseason game one to preseason game two.
11:10If he makes them, he got better. They made him in practice, had a good week and
11:14you know, so that, that's pretty much, they have to go in for a kicker. That's how you
11:18evaluate him.
11:19We were talking off air after you came on last week too, and said he started off the
11:23season the last year, kind of, kind of on the wrong end of things and then improved
11:27as the season went on. Is that just getting the jitters out if you're a kicker and able
11:31to watch film like you said he was going to?
11:34I've done a lot of things out there. I haven't kicked a field goal, so I don't know. Um, I
11:40think
11:40everybody had, if you care enough, you have jitters and, but I, you know, I really try
11:46not to, I'm not over coaching him. I let Tom and Jeremy coach him and Andy knows what he
11:54has to do to self-correct. I think his mental approach is really good. It doesn't, you know,
12:01affect him a lot. It was good to see him bounce back. And I think that's what you have to
12:07be
12:07able to do so that it doesn't just snowball on you and become an issue.
12:11You turned over almost half of this roster, which is somewhat, somewhat unconventional
12:16for a team that went to the Super Bowl. Who's emerged from your perspective on the leadership
12:21side of things?
12:22I mean, same guys that we've always had, you know, coming back.
12:27Like AJ has been a, you know, good addition to that leadership. You know, Draymond Jones
12:33has been a good addition, you know, I think the leaders have kind of been the same. I think
12:39Milt helps us lead and Marcus Jones and Matt Collins do a fantastic job. Hunter Henry, um,
12:46you know, most, most of our veteran players, I think really in their own way, have a good
12:52reach.
12:54You had a, uh, your second to last season here, you guys lost in 07 in the Super Bowl.
13:00Is there anything that you gleaned from that experience and how you're coaching this team
13:03about the hangover? Obviously many teams have lost the Super Bowl and struggled the year
13:08after. Is there anything that you, you learned there or how build up with that or that you're
13:12trying to instill in your team this year?
13:15I couldn't even remember. Yeah. I mean, what did we do after the Super Bowl that year?
13:20Well, Tom got hurt in week one.
13:22And we won 11 games and then I got traded. So, well, you and Castle went to Kansas City.
13:31I, I, I honestly, I couldn't remember what the focus was or
13:36Hey, you said you don't even remember Saturday. Right.
13:39Your memory's fading fast. That might be a low T thing also.
13:42It's nice. I just remember what's important.
13:45Do you remember Kenny Chesney at practice the other day?
13:47It looked like you guys were chumming it up. Big country guy.
13:51I remember him being there.
13:55Came in. Yep.
13:56Came in for, for a day. Hey, the boys are great.
13:59All right. Question of the week for Mike Rabel brought to you by Rocky's Ace Hardware.
14:03Seven of this. Did you want to get a picture or something with him, Courtney?
14:06Or what did you, I would have. Yeah. Yeah. No, I think that Kenny Chesney is on my list
14:10of like starstruck. I would be starstruck by Kenny Chesney. It would go like Taylor Swift,
14:14left Justin Bieber, Kenny Chesney. No, Luke Combs before Kenny Chesney.
14:18Oh, wow. Yeah. But he's up there.
14:20Did he download you on the wedding of the century?
14:24You know, I don't want to get anybody in trouble for any documents they may have had to sign.
14:27Okay. At a wedding. So, oh, I'll show you the picture someday.
14:31Did you have to sign an NDA to go to that wedding?
14:33I can't tell you.
14:34Oh, yeah. What are you looking at?
14:36The question. Oh, question.
14:39Get out of here. Seven. You can get out of here shortly.
14:41Seven of this team's first 11 games are on the road.
14:46What, if anything, can you do to get those guys ready for that?
14:51Or is that not even a thing you think?
14:53No, I mean, you just have to, you know, handle the environment.
14:55And certainly that'll be a great test on the opening night.
15:00Play sound.
15:01I think all the things that we did last year that we'll have to repeat here
15:05to be successful on the road, to be able to get off to a good start,
15:09to be able to handle the critical situations, the noise on third down.
15:15Okay.
15:16You know, take care of the football.
15:17That's a good recipe here for winning on the road.
15:20All right. Well, we know you got practice.
15:22Thanks, guys.
15:23I'm fired up now.
15:24You know, I want to run through a brick wall after that.
15:27Yes, sir.
15:27Yeah.
15:28Yes, you do?
15:29I do.
15:30Are you feeling like –
15:31He's not confident in anything.
15:34He wants them to be better.
15:35Do you have the mentality of an orange?
15:37Yeah.
15:38Or a blueberry.
15:38It doesn't matter about the fruit.
15:40Or a blueberry.
15:40It does not matter.
15:41All right.
15:42Conversation with the coaches.
15:44We'll see you next Monday.
15:45All right.
15:46All right.
15:47All right.
15:48All right.
Comments