Patriots HC Mike Vrabel Transcript 9/29
PATRIOTS HEAD COACH MIKE VRABEL
PRESS CONFERENCE
September 29, 2025
Q: I was just wondering what you thought of Christian Gonzalez and his re-entry.
MV: Well I thought it was good. I thought it was okay for him to – good to be out there. I think it can always be better and I think he knows that. But for just the first game back, some good stuff, he’ll continue to work, he’ll continue to have a game plan each and every week. I’m excited that he was able to put a full work in there, have confidence in playing and conditioning and all those things that are positive.
Q: Mike, what’s it been like working with Josh McDaniels so far? How impressed are you with the job he did last week and yesterday?
MV: Well it’s not only Josh. I mean, I enjoy working with Josh, I enjoy working with the entire offensive staff. It’s good coaches on that side, there’s a lot of collaboration and I like kind of where we are from an efficiency standpoint, just trying to work ahead, be detailed, making sure that everybody’s doing their roles and assignments and work the run game, and then kind of Josh, Thomas [Brown], Todd [Downing] and Ashton [Grant] will work some of the passing game when it goes to third down, and then we all get together on red zone and those things certainly paid off last week. So, being able to marry some plays, and when you can convert and you can string some drives together or some plays together, then things look alike and then that all complements. We’ve talked about that before. When you just live in a three-and-out world and you’re not extending drives, it’s hard to marry those plays.
Q: Just thinking of the touchdown throw to Hunter Henry, how much does Drake’s ability to throw on the move and throw from some different arm angles open things up for you and that staff?
MV: Well, to be able to extend plays, move the pocket and move the launch point is critical. Those plays have helped us and he’s done a good job with them.
Q: Mike, giving Rhamondre [Stevenson] the carry on the first play of the game, and I think he ended up getting the most snaps among the guys, was that intentional by you guys?
MV: No, not intentional other than that he’s our first and second down back. He’s the best protector, it was good to see him be able to break one there and if we finish one more guy, probably scores. So, again, we’re going to keep practicing ball security with every single player, and there’s a lot of really good examples of guys protecting the guy with the ball, which I believe and I know is critical to our success. I think it was just good for us to play a good, clean game overall.
Q: After the game, you gave an acknowledgement to Pop [Douglas] about this for his blocks, specifically on the Hunter Henry touchdown. Stef [Stefon Diggs] has talked to us a couple times over the last couple of weeks about the blocking. I was wondering if you could speak to the importance of blocking that type of position and how it can maybe be a difference maker?
MV: Well, when you don’t block safeties in the National Football League, they make the tackle. Not only do they make the tackle, they usually inflict some sign of blow delivery. They’re not going in there lightly. And so, again, that’s the idea that – not that we need receivers that are out there with neck rolls on –they have to be multifaceted and be able to execute the things that we need them to do in the pass game, but also when there’s opportunities to go find people to block, they have to do that as well. I think the more that we can show them that it leads to extra yards, it leads to X plays and it leads to touchdowns, the more that they’re believing in it and buying into it. I think that there’s great examples, especially yesterday, on the tape of us doing that.
Q: Mike, Milton Williams said yesterday he felt like the Panthers were trying to keep the defensive line out of the game. I’m curious if you saw the same thing.
MV: Well, I mean, the ball came out quick. I thought that our ability to affect the quarterback from a standpoint of inaccuracy and efficiency was good. We could start talking about not giving the rush lanes, which I thought was a key, especially on third down, his ability previously to extend those things. So, I think there’s ways to factor, and guys did, at times, factor, but we didn’t allow Bryce [Young] the easy yards out of the pocket that we had seen previously. So, I think that was a positive.
Q: Mike, what are you seeing from Christian Barmore and how is this plan that you’ve had for him leading up to games where it seems like maybe one day he’s not practicing? How is that leading to whatever you’re seeing?
MV: Well, I mean, he’s doing a lot of work and he’s getting a lot of practice time in. I mean, there may be a day where he’s limited throughout the week, but I see a disruptive player. I know he wants to be able to finish some of those plays. He’s drawn some holding penalties. I think there was another one that probably wasn’t called, hit the quarterback and got close. And so, again, keep working and trying to keep him from getting frustrated about what goes down on the stat sheet, but causing penalties and being able to still be disruptive will help us. And then that’s also going to lead to him finishing some of those plays and getting some of those tackles for loss or sacks that he wants, that all defensive linemen want.
Q: Mike, as good as everything was yesterday, it was the second-straight game with kind of a slow start in the first quarter with some penalties and things on both sides of the ball. How concerned are you about those slow starts and can you put your finger on maybe what’s going on?
MV: No, I mean, we want to start fast, and if we don’t, I mean, there’s a lot of game left. So, there’s games where we started fast and gave up some yards after that or whatever it may be. Just being ready to go. Again, adjusting quickly to what they’re doing offensively, what they’re doing to us when we’re on defense, moving parts and just settling down, probably. Just settling down on their script and saying, “Hey, these are new formations that they hadn’t previously shown or these are new motions. Hey, let’s settle down and then make a stop.” And some of that is our own doing. Some of it was some new scheme plays. And then, I’m trying to think here, the special teams, I thought we did okay. We had a hold 40 yards from the ball. We covered exactly what we talked about with the dirty kick and being able to put those guys in a position to field it, had a good return, just unfortunate that they called the penalty that they did. Offensively, had a shot at the first third down, didn’t go that way, didn’t hit it, timing, everything else. So, whether we start fast or we don’t, we’re still going to have to be really good for the rest of the three and a half quarters or whatever it ends up being. We’ll keep working towards that and keep making that a priority. But I did like the fact that we answered and like we talked about, it just takes one play, it happened to be Marcus [Jones]’s yesterday and everything kind of took off from there.
Q: Mike, was this game good in terms of being kind of a message validator in terms of what you need to do win? The no turnovers, playing to your –
MV: Probably, yeah. I mean, I think you have to be able to see it and then we can coach them hard from that. And when you win, we just have to make sure that we’re not allowing for things that we would in a loss, and making sure that all the things that we believe in, that we’re doing. But certainly, a very complimentary performance, whether that’s punting the ball down there, they catch it inside the five-yard line, Schools [Brenden Schooler] goes down there, sprinting 45 yards, comes to balance – exact technique that we preach and talk about – comes to balance, makes a tackle inside the five, we get a stop, they punt, we get the ball back and then we score. So, that’s really what the idea is and that’s what we need to try to continue to do.
Q: Mike, on the fourth down completion to Diggs, he shed some light on that one. Was that one where he has to adjust in real time as the route is developing or as the play is developing?
MV: Yeah, I’m not going to get into a whole lot of scheme here, Phil [Perry]. So, quarterback and receiver being on the same page.
Q: What have you seen from some of the penalties related to defensive alignment? Is that an emphasis this year? Is it the officiating?
MV: Just line up on sides. It’s pro football. Talk about it in practice, you go to the game – I mean, I think the line of scrimmage, however they call it, that’s where we have to be. And if they feel like we’re too far in and it’s too far to warn them to back up the next play, then it’s what it is. We have to line up on sides and do business as business is being done, and if they’re calling it tight, then there’s no sense in complaining about it.
Q: You mentioned special teams a few times. Marcus’ return, the Bryce [Baringer] punt, Brenden down there. Punt returns this year, even before yesterday’s game, I believe and all-time high through three weeks, a lot of blocked kicks, really swing games these first few weeks. Do you pay attention to what’s going on around the league, general observations and are teams being more creative? Are you seeing things that give you cause to spend a little bit more time on the teams?
MV: Well, we always want to be sound in every area. We want to make sure that we’re protecting our punter and kicker, especially with the uptick here with the field goal blocks that have determined, like you said, the games. Just not taking anything for granted, whether that’s an extra point, that’s a short field goal. And then there’s great athletes as punt returners, and ball placement is critical, the coverage lanes and all those things are critical. We saw what happened to us against Miami, but then also we were able to kind of come back and have a great day in punt return yesterday. So, we covered punts better and just never taking a play off, really. That could determine the outcome.
Q: Like Diggs said yesterday, his comfort level in this offense was about a five out of 10. Is that a good thing or a bad thing for you?
MV: Well, we need to start making sure that that comfort level continues to increase, continuing to improve. This is a progress league. We understand that. We have to continue to get better and improve as the season goes on. And we need to make sure that we understand that, we have to be better next week and moving forward than we were last week. So, hopefully going into Buffalo, we can get it to be 60% instead of 50%.
Q: Have you seen growth from him in pass protection?
MV: Yeah, again, we have to go and use great technique. We have to take the fight to some of these guys that are bigger and stay inside out. We believe in him as a pass protector, just unfortunate that when you’re getting out there on the edge and the perimeter, they’re going to see those types of things and you can’t let them beat our feet. But just going and closing the distance, again, that’s not easy by any means, having a guy inside and then being able to scan outside as far as the protection goes. That’s what we ask him to do and I have confidence in TreVeyon [Henderson], just continuing to be decisive as a runner. It was good to see him, and everybody contributed. I think that’s what we’re going to get. We’re going to throw to the guy that’s open and we’re going to continue to mix the backs in there. Whether somebody gets the first carry, somebody gets the goalline carry, I mean, there’s a lot of skill sets. It’s our job to try to figure out how to manage those. And then keep the excitement with the guys, like with Gibby [Antonio Gibson] getting a run, Rhamondre coming right back in there, then it’s TreVeyon, then we throw to the tight end and we throw to a receiver. So, that’s good to see. Just try to reward everybody for knowing what to do and playing hard. We’ll get down there to the red zone and try to dial up the play that gives us the best chance to score each and every week.
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