Vrabel: “We Have to Have Great Leadership, Great Focus, & an Energy to Improve.” | Press Conference

Vrabel: “We Have to Have Great Leadership, Great Focus, & an Energy to Improve.” | Press Conference

Get it up there. Is it on? It’s on. Okay, good. Um, just want to update you here. I didn’t want to put out a statement. Would rather just speak on it myself. Um, so due to some unforeseen, um, you know, ongoings here with with Terrell. Terrell is going to be Terrell Williams will be away for the next few days. Okay. So, um it’s nothing related uh to the incident from March. Um but it was something that just came up and you know we’ll have to run some more tests and we think it’s best and I think it’s best that um you know he he focus on that and and we u prepare for Miami with what we’ve been doing. And we’ll talk to you a little bit later in the week on Friday about how the the calling of the game will go defensively. um Zach and I um have been, you know, working with the staff to make sure that uh we’re where we need to be and that’ll be all we’ll talk about with Terrell, but I just want to let you guys know what would be going on there here for the next few days and then we’ll keep you posted as anything comes up. So, um you know that that’s where we’re at here uh to start. What did you guys find? Aaron, um, might we see Christian Gonzalez today? Well, I don’t think we’ll see him today. Um, continuing to improve, which is positive and and working hard, but uh, I don’t think we’ll see him today on the practice field. Um, so again, just working hard and, uh, keep improving, staying engaged. um still preparing as a as a starter and asking questions in the meetings and and all those things. So that’s that’s where we’re at today. Sorry, Phil. Go ahead. That’s okay. I was just wondering with Terrell, is this something that just came up today? Was it after the game? Was Can you shed any light on the timing? Uh the timing was sometime between um the the game and and let’s say today, you know what I mean? But it wasn’t today. It was, you know, earlier in the week. So, um, this is this is where we’re at and, uh, want the best for him. Want the best for him and our players, our players, families, and everybody else. So, again, um, can’t speculate right now. I just want to make sure that, uh, he’s he’s focused on getting getting results and and and figuring out what the next step is here uh, or medically. Zach’s experience over the course of the spring and the summer maybe helped set him up for sure this Yeah, I mean I you know I mean I think Zach does a fantastic job. Always has uh since he’s been with us uh before and you know work the work through the game plan. We’ll work through practice. We’ll work through um the normal operation of third down and short yardage and red zone and you know we’ll have to be great. We’ll have to uh have great preparation for for for an offense that um you know motions a lot and relies on you know their speed and their timing, their precision. So um it’s always a big challenge to to play this team. What’s your recollection, Mike, of the times that you had to deal with Miami and South Florida in the in the early portion of the season because it can be aggressive. Well, I mean it’s going to be warm. It’s going to be wet. It’ll be humid. I’m sure it’ll rain. Probably lightning. Who knows? But it’ll rain and then it’ll stop. I mean, I think as a as a rookie, I think we might have played down there as a young player back when the dirt was still there and it would rain and then it would fill up and it wouldn’t drain very well and then it would just be grass and then water and then after it stopped it would eventually drain out. But I think that’s it’s about what the forecast is every single time you go down there. Mike, obviously you haven’t been here the last few years, but the Patriots organization has had a tough time with the Dolphins. Do you feel the weight of that at all this week? Like No, no, I I don’t. Every every week is different. Every week is a huge challenge. I feel the um you know, the opportunity to go on the road and and win a division game. that that’s what I feel and that’s where our our thought process is is that we want to we want to try to get off to a good start and if we don’t we we can’t worry about it. You know what I mean? These are all things that we have to be able to overcome. Whether you get off to a good start, you’re still going to have to finish strong and if you don’t get off to a great start, you got to go on to the next play. And just the understanding that that that’s how this game goes. And we have to we have to be able to work past it and we have to continue to practice that way that if it’s not perfect that we’re we get what we can get. We’re decisive. We’re aggressive. We get back in the huddle and then we get another call and we get lined up and we continue to build it uh together and we we try to bring three phases together and put the return opportunities that we have to help our offense to then you know our offense is able to score or flip the field provide our defense with opportunities. We can get some turnovers take care of the ball. You know that that’s the formula to to winning. You want to limit big plays every game. Um, obviously this week, how big of an emphasis is that with Tyreek K? Well, we’re certainly going to have to make them earn it and we’re going to have to find ways to to get the drive stopped, right? You either have to do what the Colts did, which was which was turn it over or you’re going to have to, you know, make a play along the way and and and and make them earn it. Um, pick and choose your spots to to try to be, you know, aggressive. And it’s not just Tyreek. I mean, they got a fantastic um, you know, orchestrator. I mean, Tua does a fantastic job of knowing where he wants to go with the ball. Quick delivery. He’s extremely accurate. Um, and and then the the speed with what with Wadd and you know, Tyreek and and and the whole team. And then again, then they have a fullback that has versatility and can play on the end line of scrimmage motions. you know, usually every big play, you know, he he’s kind of in the run game, he’s somewhere near it. Mike, as a player and a coach now, what do you enjoy? What have you enjoyed about playing on the road? Well, you have to embrace that. You have to, you know, you have to travel with with with the attitude that we need everybody that that we’re we’re going with our group. and um you know the things that we talked about fundamentally earlier about playing great defense and being able to um control the game right and create some turnovers. You have to you know there’s certain things that you have to do on the road that you know whether you do them or or you eliminate some of the other bad football you know that’s what you have to do to to win on the road in the division. Were able to have some success over the middle it felt like specifically off play action. How do you limit the disadvantage of linebackers having to cover over the middle against the speed of like Dodgers? Yeah, I mean I think that sometimes we can, you know, you know, I mean, try to panic back there uh a little bit and, you know, that’s what happens sometimes when you’re in zone coverage and then man coverage. You just can’t let your guy catch the ball. So th those are the kind of philosophies that we talk about and, you know, it’s a it’s a fine line. Um, but continuing to to rep that and and turn and, you know, panic and look those guys up uh underneath and and force him to try to go, you know, somewhere else or go to to a checkown. Mike, when Zach uh is taking the the role that he is now, uh, does he have the full latitude to be the defensive play caller or do you Well, we’ll cover that later on in the week. I think that uh, you know, we’ve worked through that. You know, I’ll kind of continue to talk about that later in the week. And, you know, we we are, you know, I think I’m excited. I know everybody else is about our preparation and and what we’ve tried to put in and and see uh today, you know, what what what works and what looks good. Uh most importantly, what the players uh can can understand and feel comfortable playing uh fast and and aggressive. What made it in the best interest of the team to go ahead? What went into the decision to re release DJ James yesterday? Uh just uh you know probably you know opportunity and you know somebody also earned another opportunity. Go ahead. Yeah. No I I was going to ask a similar question but what was the when was that realization because he was someone obviously a week ago you wanted to work with? Yeah, I mean I think that just giving somebody else another opportunity uh this week and you know we’ll kind of see where that goes, but I appreciated what DJ was able to do and compete and uh work hard extremely hard. Um you know there’s just going to be a you know some of these things are going to be fluid. We have to try to continue to turn the roster and see um see who can help us. Are you going to uh appoint a new game day captain uh different from the week one? And what’s your expectation for those game day captain to be different from those uh six regular captains? Yeah, I the votes came out how they came out. We announced captains, but I’ve always kind of liked to have a game captain of somebody that’s, you know, worked through something or, you know, was going back to his hometown or played well last year is, you know, there’s different reasons. uh for that. And I I think I mentioned because KC had received votes as a special teams captain and as a defensive captain that I thought it would be a good idea to start off with him. Um you know there’s the role of the captain during the game is you know they’re going to say heads or tails and figure out if we defer. I mean, I just the leadership is that what we need and continuing to grow the leadership um and uh the accountability again at the end of the day. Um teams that that hold each other accountable to to all the little things that to the details to doing the the right things to professionalism are the teams that uh in the end I think can s sustain this this grind of the season because there’s that’s it. We’re in it. And so now it’s it’s one day at a time and it’s it’s gonna have to have great leadership and and great focus and and an energy to improve. Mike, you mentioned earlier in the week um you know, you’re always trying to get into the right play. Sometimes you’re going to get to the line of scrimmage and get a look and you say, you know, we can’t run that play and you said, “Well, maybe we can’t.” Is this kind of a data collection thing? Let’s run the play. It might be Yeah. I mean, we’ve been through this where you’re not going to block the safety. Sometimes the guy makes a miss. sometimes he runs him over like we watch all the games like that’s kind of sometimes how it happens and sometimes a guy makes a tackle and so um I I’ve been through that you know what I mean so it’s um you know you just don’t want to put people in harm’s way if they’re pressuring and you hand a ball off into some you know pressure so again I think it’s all relative and in having some decisive answers to give yourself the best chance right you don’t want to hand the ball off into somebody that’s unblocked and blitzing. Well, if somebody’s, you know, for example, let’s say maybe at six or seven yards, well, you know, let’s let it eat. And and do you let somebody make make a miss? Do you get to a point where on a coaching staff you say, “Let’s let’s try and run some of these that might not be the greatest look and try it, see how it goes.” If it doesn’t work, then the guy goes, “See, that’s why we don’t want to run that play.” Yeah. No, I don’t think we need to do that. I think we want to be all on the same page on what the expectations are and being sound and as long as that the players understand it. Uh then that’s the most important thing. And so, you know, we don’t want to do any I told you so. That’s not how we’re looking to do business. We’re just trying to be great here for the players in preparation. Uh great energy, structure of practice, continue to improve and uh get started off and find a way to go down and win a football game. Appreciate it.

Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel addresses the media on Wednesday, September 10, 2025.

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