Patriots HC Mike Vrabel Transcript 10/6
PATRIOTS HEAD COACH MIKE VRABEL
PRESS CONFERENCE
October 6, 2025
Q: I don’t know if you have any more update on [Antonio] Gibson, but along with that, do you anticipate having to make some kind of move to shore up the running back room?
MV: Well no, don’t have any update yet. We got back late. Some guys are still going through some tests and some medical evaluations. Hopefully we’ll know more early this afternoon. But we’ll keep you updated if we add anybody to the roster or we feel like we need guys at any position.
Q: Mike, what do you think that a win like that can do for you and your message? Your first year here. I don’t know how much you’re thinking about buy-in right now, but just getting a win like that, do you feel like it does anything in terms of your message resonating with your team?
MV: I don’t know if I look at it like that. I think that the buy-in – I don’t know how you necessarily define that. Just trying to show them what they’re capable of doing when we can do it together in all three phases and play up to our identity, because it wasn’t great. I thought we played really hard. I thought we flew around on defense. I thought we tried to hammer the football out. Sometimes we did, sometimes we didn’t. They made some plays, but I thought we have, even offensively, a lot of room to grow. Special teams-wise, we didn’t have the impact that we maybe were used to the previous weeks or some of the phases. So, I think that we continue to show them those things and what we need to improve, the things that we do well. I do think that they are trying to uphold the style of play that we want to play with. Every week is a challenge, then we’ll move on, and we’ll prepare to go down and play the Saints that are coming off a huge win at home. That’s where we’re at. I’m happy for the players. I’m always happy for the players. They’re the ones that go out and do it. I appreciate the coaches’ efforts. We expected a good week of practice. We expected to go in, play well and give ourselves a chance to win, and that’s what we did. Again, hopefully we can build some confidence by the way that we played. We gave up a touchdown drive to start the second half, but our offense came back and answered. They went down and tied the game, and we came back and made a kick, executed the time and the clock, and gave them, an MVP quarterback, very little time to be able to do anything. Those are things that we had to do, so maybe we can show them and say, “This is what you’re capable of, this is how we’d like to maybe do it a little bit differently,” but I don’t question the buy-in. I think that they’re trying. We’ve just got a lot of things we can improve on.
Q: How much does that help, along those lines, that two-minute drill at the end by Drake [Maye] to win the football game? What does that do for a kid like him?
MV: You have to be put in those situations. I think you have to be in that situation to be able to feel it and execute it. Even the last play, the third down play, we’re trying to catch one out of there to the flat and see if we can’t get somebody to break free out there. We’ve been talking about not throwing that ball away in that particular situation, unless it was to lose yardage. He made a great decision to not lose yardage, but also keep the clock going. I think that those, situationally, is where he’s starting to improve. Not that those situations aren’t critical, but there’s so much that he, Josh [McDaniels], Ashton [Grant] and the offense are doing with him to understand those first and second down operations, procedures versus pressure and third down. Then it’s like, “OK, two-minute, and oh, by the way.” We want to be a good five-minute football team.” We want to because that means that we’re ahead, that we’re controlling the ball, the clock and that we’re using all the time. But there are certain things that probably are a little lower on the list of priorities. There’s a lot more first, second and third down snaps than there are five-minute snaps. Not to make those less important, but we’re practicing in them, we’re showing him and he’s understanding. That was good because when you get into that situation, it’s two-minute, but it’s really five-minute. You’re trying to take care of the clock to the best of your advantage. So, there’s a lot of things that we can coach from and hopefully have some confidence with.
Q: With the decision at the end of the half to kick the field goal, I’m just kind of curious your thoughts on that one.
MV: I know. I just didn’t want to do all that and not come out of there with points. The way that the first half had gone, I felt like – and not to look at the other side of the coin, but to come out of there tied, I just felt like at least we could say we were winning the first half and that we were in a position to kind of do some things. So, that may change next week or the following week. Just felt like, at that point, how it was going, I just wanted to make sure we came out of there with points and a good feeling going into half.
Q: Do you have a plan for those types of situations, going into a game like that one? Like you and your staff say to each other, “Hey, we might have to be aggressive and go for a six.” But then, did it change based on the flow of the game?
MV: I think at that point in time it did. We plan on trying to be aggressive and not reckless. Those are conversations that Stretch [John Streicher] and I have, that we communicate to Josh and to everybody else. Certain times throughout the game where it’s third-and-8, and if we get it close enough that it’s four down, we try to tell them that. And if we don’t get any yards or lose yards, then we make a decision to punt. I think that the communication there is going well, trying to be one play ahead. But to Stefon [Diggs]’s credit, I mean, we try to coach that when the guy’s not playing the football, go back and create contact, show the official that you’re making an attempt to go back to the ball and go through the defender when he’s not playing the ball. So, would have liked to reward him with a touchdown, wasn’t able to do that. But yeah, I think that there’s games where you certainly want to be – you feel like you need to be aggressive, especially a team that’s averaging close to 34 points a game.
Q: When you had the chance to either watch him back or even in real time, what did you see on the pass from Drake Maye to Diggs where he was half falling over as he got the ball out? Just what did you see on that play?
MV: “Oh my gosh, oh my gosh.” It was an 8-yard loss to a 12-yard gain. He’s continuing to grow and gain confidence, and show us, show everybody, show his team and himself the ability to operate in the pocket, ability to operate in scheduled, move the pocket plays and then also off-schedule. So, putting the ball in good locations, not throwing behind guys, going on the move and putting the ball in harm’s way.
Q: Coach, 2-0 on the road. Anything in particular you liked about the approach to road games?
MV: I thought we had a good week of practice. I think that they were really focused on what the environment would be, what that would look like, and how we would have to operate and function. I thought that was really important for a lot of young players that maybe haven’t been in a game of that magnitude. It was good to see them respond and operate. I mean, we had the one, I guess, false start on the short yardage that was disappointing how close that was. I mean, that’s how they call it, some of these guys. Hunter [Henry]’s line of scrimmage penalty’s frustrating. Looking over at an official that’s 15 yards away. And I’ll have to try to get some clarification on that and how we’re going to do this going forward. But proud of the guys and the way they competed.
Q: Mike, kind of what Phil [Perry] was saying, you instilling a belief, identity and everything else. How much did they show you in a game like last night?
MV: I was very comfortable going into the game. I was very comfortable. I felt like they practiced, that they were in a good place. There’ll be things that we’ll have to coach, we’ll move on and we’ll have to get going here with the Saints. So, can you keep doing it? Can you add the consistency, the preparation as this thing starts to wear on and your body starts to feel less than ideal? This is a long haul here. We’re just past the quarter pole here and we’ve got a long way to go.
Q: Mike, where does your patience come from? Just that ability to be like, “Alright, you fumbled. Alright, you missed an extra point, but I believe in you.”
MV: Oh yeah, man, I think anybody that knows me knows I have a great deal of patience. We need everybody. Everybody’s role is vitally important, but also, we’ve got to protect the identity and part of that identity is the ball. But we also believe in treating people the way they treat the team, what kind of teammate they are, how they prepare for their job, the things that they’re willing to do to help the team. And in your particular question, I think Rhamondre [Stevenson] is an excellent protector of the other people with the ball, whether that’s in blitz pickup or chasing the ball, being around it and doing all those little things. So, I think it’s just a fine line of making decisions. All our backs are going to play. They’re all going to contribute. Just as the same way as the ball finds different guys and when Drake throws it, we’ll need everybody throughout this season.
Q: With Antonio’s injury, it seemed like TreVeyon [Henderson] was getting a few more opportunities. Just what did you see from him and how have you seen him grow?
MV: Yeah, I think he’s just continuing to see things out there in a different run scheme. So, under center, in the gun, we’ve tried to find him. We’ll have some more stuff for him and everybody else that can help us. I’d like to have him get going on a kickoff return. We were close, one block away on three different kickoff returns. So, there’s a lot of ways for us to get all those guys involved.
Q: Is pass blocking something that I know he struggled with throughout the first few games, is there anything you’ve done in practice to –
MV: Well, we practice it. I mean, you have to practice it, and again, we believe in TreVeyon. We’ve seen him protect a bunch in college, identifying who to block, then going to close the distance, coming to balance, not catching and all those things that are important. So, we’ll give him the tools, we’ll practice with him, he’s willing and I’m confident that that will continue to improve.
Q: I heard you this morning. How great is it to have your dad as a resource?
MV: Well it was good to have him there. They’ve always made trips to Buffalo from Northeast Ohio. A lot of stuff running through my head and he was quick to point out, just like, “A lot of young players that played in that football game, in that environment, have rookies on the left side of the line, and then running back and playing a young rookie kicker, all those things and those pressure moments.” To be able to execute was a good reminder.
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