Patriots HC Mike Vrabel Transcript 11/6
PATRIOTS HEAD COACH MIKE VRABEL
PRESS CONFERENCE
November 6, 2026
Q: TreVeyon [Henderson] let people in on his health struggles on social media. It doesn’t appear he has any answers yet. How tough is something like that for the group, and how have you tried to support him?
MV: To speak on how hard it is for the group, I think that’s a question for each individual player. I know that he is well loved and respected on our football team. My support shows up in a lot of different ways, and I’m trying to make sure that TreVeyon’s cared for, the recovery plan is intact, he’s comfortable with it, and that his wife Kenzie is cared for and understands what was going on through the process. To support him the best way that I know how is just to care for him, listen to him, and do whatever we can to get healthy, get back, help this football team and do what he loves.
Q: What options do you have at this point on the roster when it comes to TreVeyon?
MV: Well, Lan’s [Larison] on the roster. Lan and Corey [Kiner], so that’s the first thing, and then we’ll go from there. But, the same three guys that helped us win in Miami will be available.
Q: Has there been a thought of putting him on the non-football illness list?
MV: A lot of thoughts, and we’ll see. We’ll just work through whatever…I can’t even put a timeline on it. I don’t think that that’s fair to anybody. So, we’ll just have to focus on the guys that are available, how we prepare for the Packers and then also continue to care for TreVeyon, his wife and his family.
Q: Do you have an update with some of the game statuses for A.J. [Brown], Hunter [Henry], Marcus [Jones]?
MV: I would say that outside of TreVeyon being out, I would say A.J. would be out. Hunter will probably be questionable. Marcus would be questionable. The rest of them will be questionable.
Q: Mike, in years past, TreVeyon has opened up about battles with mental health. Is there any correlation with what he’s handling in this moment and what he could potentially be dealing with mentally?
MV: I’d take a look at TreVeyon’s statement, and that’ll speak for itself. That’s why he did it. I’m not going to speak on somebody else’s health. I think that was what he wanted to put out there. He clearly supported it, and I think that that just speaks for itself.
Q: The Packers, the deep passes have been well talked about this week. What do you want to see from the secondary, in terms of defending those deep passes?
MV: I don’t think it’s just on the secondary when they complete a pass, just like it’s not always on the front seven when they run the football. So, I never really coached defense like that or looked at it like that. We’re going to have to find ways to affect the quarterback, understand what the coverage is, how we execute it, where the ball probably needs to go in certain coverages. So, we’re really going to have to have opportunities to play the ball in the deep part of the field. We’ll have to do it without fouling. They do a great job of tracking the ball. They do a great job of, sometimes completing them, sometimes getting a penalty, and then sometimes the defense intercepts it. So, we understand that that’ll be part of what they do. It’s not everything, but certainly they have the skill set to do it. They have the quarterback to be able to put it in good locations. But that’s also about being able to affect the quarterback and understand the concept of the coverage that we have called.
Q: We’ve asked you a lot about Rhamondre [Stevenson]. But on the other side, Corey Kiner. How have you seen him grow and maybe step into a bigger role now that TreVeyon will be out?
MV: Well, Corey got here. Again, he was one of that group that wasn’t really with us in offseason or with training camp, and he worked really hard. I know that it probably doesn’t seem like it, but when you look at understanding one playbook and learning one playbook with a new offensive staff in Arizona, and then coming here at the end of training camp, that’s not as easy as people really think it is. There’s protections, there’s routes, there’s calls, and they all are about the same, but they are completely different. It’s like learning a new language. So, Corey’s worked really hard, and I think that his spark and energy going back to the Jets game has been noticeable. Being able to run, kickoff returns, provide impact there. He’s a great teammate. He’s got great energy. I love seeing him in the building each and every day. So hopefully his role can continue to grow and be able to help us out there.
Q: How have Mack Hollins and Greg Van Roten progressed this week?
MV: I thought they were able to get through. I don’t think a full workload. I think that’s not fair to say just because you can’t replicate that in practice. So, I think we’ll see how they come in tomorrow and then make some decisions on where they’re at.
Q: Did you have much contact with [Jordan] Love coming out of the draft in 2020? I know that was the COVID year. Do you remember talking to him, doing research on him?
MV: Yeah. Again, a really, really intelligent quarterback, talented, athletic. I think all those things have proven to be true. His poise and composure at the line of scrimmage, I think he’s worked on cadences, and the operation has really improved from a young quarterback coming out.
Q: Back when you had Matt LaFleur as your OC, what struck you in the interview process that he was the right guy for that job in your first year as a head coach?
MV: Matt was a talented offensive play caller. I liked the system that they had. Being able to implement the outside zone, the play passes he believed strongly in, and the run actions that mirrored that. He wanted to run the football. Some of the stuff that he did in Washington, we had Marcus [Mariota] as the quarterback. I think he easily adapted. We went through some adversity there for a couple of games, had some moving parts early on in that season and Matt didn’t flinch. He didn’t complain. He came up with game plans and modified things, dealing with two tackles on the practice squad, losing a quarterback in the middle of the week and different things that had come up. So, I think it’s his flexibility and the vision that he had for the offense, to be able to implement the outside zone, the play passes and all the things that come off of it.
Q: Obviously, it’s a short sample size for this year, but what does Josh Jacobs do that can make things difficult for you guys defensively?
MV: Just the pure talent that he’s got in the backfield. He’s got a great skill set. He’s a tough tackle. He runs hard. They’ve started, I would say, just from the film, trying to implement him in the red zone. He’s a guy that’s got good hands, good matchup, good in space. He’s dynamic, and he’s a three-down back.
Q: With the travel next week. Have you gone to jump on Detroit, or is it all Green Bay this week?
MV: Every week we’ve been through this. Andrew asked a question about that. No, we’ll focus on Detroit as soon as the game is over. That’s what our responsibility is. Then obviously, you have to adjust the schedule accordingly to be able to have time to do that and then still get the players prepared and then make sure that the coaches are ready.
Q: I’m sure it’s disappointing for A.J. [Brown] that he’s about to miss his sixth game. Do you get a sense from him just how he’s doing dealing with this recent adversity?
MV: Again, I’m not going to speak on other people’s feelings or how they feel. I know he’s working extremely hard to get back, and he’s staying engaged in meetings and everything else, and doing everything that we ask him to do. So, if you have a chance to ask him about his feelings, I think that’s always the best. I’m not going to speak on somebody else’s feelings. I can only comment on what I see and how he comes into the building; he’s engaged and certainly doing everything he can to get back.
Q: Because of next week’s travel, are you guys going to have to make a decision on A.J. earlier than usual next week?
MV: I’m not really sure yet. I’ll focus on this week and what that looks like. Then any decisions that we make, whether that’s early in the week or later in the week, we’ll share with you. I don’t know what that would be, but I’m not going to try to predict the future.
Q: I know we talk about zone coverage. It’s a big category of a lot of sub coverages. But in terms of your performance at man, it’s really good by EPA. Zone generally is towards the bottom so far this year. Do you see any reason for that gap or things that might bring that closer over the course of the rest of the season?
MV: I think that those things have to marry — the rush and the coverage have to marry. Then, being able to understand some of the concepts where you need to be, if you need to be back and inside or you have to have more depth and width, whatever that may be. But it’s a whole package of being able to affect the quarterback, of what defenses we’re going to reroute in, and what defenses are we just going to be able to get some depth on. I don’t know when all those came. If situationally we’re up in a game and we’re playing soft zone, and maybe they didn’t, I’m sure there’s some zone coverages that haven’t been good either. I just know that you can’t blitz every play, and you can’t play zone every play. So, we’ll have to continue to improve in all those areas.
Q: How did Caleb do today?
MV: It’s getting long. It’s starting to cut into my time. So, we got to dial them back here.
Q: I haven’t asked you in a little bit, so I had to check.
MV: No, last week was a good one.
Q: Good to know.
MV: It was not as good as last week.