Patriots HC Mike Vrabel Transcript 11/7
PATRIOTS HEAD COACH MIKE VRABEL
PRESS CONFERENCE
November 7, 2025
Q: Do you have the statuses on the players?
MV: Statuses will be as follows: Rhamondre [Stevenson] will be out, Kayshon [Boutte] will be out and [Christian] Elliss will be out.
Q: A little bit off topic, [Stefon] Diggs, the 900 receptions for his career. Just from being around him, what do you think has maybe contributed to him getting to that number as fast as he has?
MV: I think that there’s a competitive spirit. I think when you look at his makeup and his character, I think that there’s an energy, but there’s a competitive spirit to Stef. Obviously, the skill set. I mean, to play in this league at whatever position and be successful, you have a skill set, but I do think that he is competitive, and I think that’s allowed him to be successful in a lot of different places.
Q: Your time – I was thinking this – similarly, Rodney [Harrison] was someone that I felt had a competitive streak. With Diggs, do you agree –
MV: Well, I’m not going to compare. Yeah, certainly that’s what you want me to do. I think that there’s a lot of things that you need to play a long time, and be successful and productive in this league. So, that’s a good one to have. That’s a good quality to have. I think that you just look at maybe the recovery from injury. Some guys recover faster. Some guys avoid injury. Obviously, Digg-Z recovered quickly from his situation, so everybody’s kind of built a little differently.
Q: Mike, do you guys pay attention to your opponents’ injury reports throughout the week, and does that change the way you game plan throughout the week?
MV: Well, I don’t know if we necessarily change how we game plan. That would be hard to do when the final injury report comes. I think you have to be conscious of it, maybe on some matchups, but I don’t think that the game plan necessarily changes unless there would be a different quarterback or things that you would be maybe expecting that if the quarterback in a game would be out, and you’d have to say, “Hey, maybe they were running more of these types of plays.”
Q: What’s it mean to have a guy like Garrett [Bradbury] in there in the middle? I don’t think he’s missed a snap all year. That steadiness, consistency, durability.
MV: I think having that, especially at the center position, critical. Getting everybody on the same page, the communication piece, familiarity with the quarterback. I think those things are positive, and everybody’s important, but that’s certainly one of the important positions. I appreciate his willingness to be able to be out there every single snap, and we’ll have to make sure that everybody’s ready to go in at any position.
Q: What edge does a fullback bring to a run game, and how have you seen Jack Westover grow into that role as a pro?
MV: Well, it allows you to run some different runs and insert runs. There’s not that many of them anymore, so usually they’re converted, and I think that’s something that Jack has improved on in his time here, especially as the season’s worn on. The picture’s never really clean, and it doesn’t look like the diagram where this has him going through the B-gap or the A-gap. Usually there’s bodies there that you have to avoid, move around and then find who you’re supposed to get to, so I think he’s done a good job. I think he’s continuing to improve, and so I think he’s gotten more comfortable.
Q: Mike, when you see news come out the way the tragedy did in Dallas, how much do you use that – do you talk to your team? Do you make it a point to make sure those guys know what resources are available to them?
MV: Yeah, and obviously our condolences to Marshawn [Kneeland]’s family, to the Cowboys family and that community. We always try to focus on that. That’s something that I think we have always been intentional with, is trying to find and put as many points of contact around our players, our coaches and our employees that we possibly can, that they feel comfortable sharing things and communicating. There’s a lot of players that that’s important to them as far as their community outreach. We know how critical those things are, and Gonzo [Christian Gonzalez]’s message to the KyleCares Foundation and some of those types of things, but that’s also another reminder to, I think, just continue to touch on it and bring it to everybody’s mind as we go through and we do this thing with life and football.
Q: Pretty important that your guys are looking out for each other in addition to just the coaches and other professionals and the guys are kind of keeping an eye on each other –
MV: Well, yeah, I mean, I think that that’s what you would do when you have a family and you spend a lot of time with each other. You kind of know what people – what they’re like on a normal basis, on a daily basis, what their mannerisms are. They’re next to each other in the locker room, and so I think that that just happens and occurs naturally. I’m always reminded of – and I think it might have been [Nelson] Agholor, but I don’t want to misquote it – but it was a Patriot player, somebody had a concussion, he noticed that he wasn’t right on the field, grabbed him and stopped and said, “Hey.” And I showed that to the team in Tennessee, like, “Hey, this is a teammate. We’re going to miss things, but when you see something that’s not right or when a guy’s not right,” – and I know that’s completely separate, but I’m just using that – that’s always stood out to my mind of a guy saying, “Hey, this guy doesn’t seem right.” So, we always want to do that, and we always want to look out for each other and have each other’s backs.
Q: Mike, you talked about Tampa’s defense on Wednesday, and they’re obviously well known for their blitzes, but they’ve also been top-five this season in limiting explosive plays. I’m curious, when you watch them, what allows them to both be so aggressive but also kind of limiting?
MV: Yeah, good tacklers – normally good tacklers. Their corners do a nice job of staying on top. I think [Jahmyr] Gibbs broke one through there on a big run, but for the most part, they’re good tacklers in the secondary. When you have good tacklers in the secondary, when the ball breaks 10, 12, 15 yards, they get it on the ground, when you’re not a very good tackler, those things tend to be a little longer. So, I think that that’s probably the biggest thing, is just their willingness and their ability to tackle at the third level.
Q: How have you seen D’Ernest [Johnson] pick things up over the last week?
MV: Yeah, working hard. I love his attitude. He came in here ready to compete, to earn our trust, his teammates’ trust, protection and carrying the ball. So, I’ve liked everything that he’s done since he’s been here.
Q: Mike, it seems like Rhamondre’s been around the team even though he’s struggling with his injury – his toe injury. Have you seen anything from him in terms of leadership helping TreVeyon Henderson as he’s preparing to take more snaps, both last week and then into this week?
MV: Those occur in the meeting rooms, in the running back meeting rooms. And so, yeah, I think that always tips and protection are things that he’s figured out as far as being able to scan and any of those details. I think guys are always doing that whether they’re injured or not. I think that that’s something that’s important. So, when you have players that are injured and you have them – they may not be in the game that week or however long – that they stay engaged for them and their own mindset, but also can help the other players around them.
Q: Is there a level of pride you take as a defense being as successful as you’ve been defending the run when you’ve played so many light boxes?
MV: In this league, I think that it’s important that you do it every week. And I think that what we’ve shown is a willingness to adjust to whatever run scheme that is that week. If it’s a zone, wide zone, gap scheme, that our guys have done a good job of adjusting to it, perimeter plays. Our effort has been good. But every week is a challenge, and we’ll have to continue to do that. They’re going to test us in the run game. And whether that’s being able to tackle the quarterback when he extends plays, we don’t look at it as we played split safety or we played post safety, it’s just – part of your identity is being able to stop the run and tackle, but it doesn’t guarantee that you’re going to do it every week. You have to show up and be willing to do that.
Q: Drake [Maye] seems like he’s targeting, in crucial moments, Hunter Henry a lot. I’m just curious as to what you see from those two guys, about halfway through the season, that has allowed him to be such a reliable outlet for Drake on these crucial downs and big moments.
MV: I think they’re consistent. I think that they’ve played a lot of football, that they’ve been able to make those plays when called upon. So, I think that there’s a level of confidence there. I think Drake has confidence in everybody that we put out there, and sometimes the play takes him to a certain guy. But those are guys that are consistent. Those are guys that repeatedly do the right thing, and so far have made the plays that have helped us win, whether that’s a touchdown or that’s a third-down conversion at the end of the game.
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