Mike Vrabel on Facing the Jets: “This Will Be a Challenge.” | Patriots Press Conference

Mike Vrabel on Facing the Jets: “This Will Be a Challenge.” | Patriots Press Conference

How we doing? Packed house. Karen, you responsible for all these people? Probably. How are you? We noticed these blue workman shirts at everyone’s locker yesterday and Hunter Henry blamed you. Did you do Yeah, I’m a giftgiver. I like to give gifts. So, uh, one thing I picked up, I thought, uh, Bubba Ventron did that in Cleveland, and I thought they was a good-look shirt. So, I got one in brown last year, thought it looked better in blue, so we got, uh, we got the guys some of those shirts. I thought it’d be fun. I liked it. They they liked it in Cleveland, so, you know, it’s kind of what it was. If yesterday was Thursday, today being Friday, are there any sort of game updates heading into Thursday night? Uh, no. But we’ll know after practice, we’ll have a better idea. And again, I think that, um, you know, somehow they, you know, guys progress after the game. Um, you know, so just kind of see where they are. We’ll have a couple guys do a little bit more uh than maybe everybody else does just to try to be able to evaluate to see what we have for the game. And then, you know, some of the guys that we didn’t have available, we’ll have to see something from them uh to make a quick decision. Again, this is the all hands-on deck week and prepare as a starter. So, we’ll see where some of that shakes out. Mike, what are what how important was it for you to increase the overall team speed, especially on defense for this team? Well, I think you just try to improve and and part of that is is youth. Part of that is speed. Part of that is, you know, some of that skill, size, and there’s a lot of things that that you look at when when you try to, you know, build a roster um a team, try to get the the best fit of players. And so, you know, we’ve been able to create some some X plays um offensively and, you know, defensively. Always, you know, that’s speed and length and explosiveness. Those are good traits to have for for defensive football players. Mike, did you guys determine to put Kyrie at fullback? Was it a totally doosed thing? You did he come to you guys? Uh, group effort. No, I mean, I would say that that that Kirus is, and I appreciate all you guys that do um or have done reports on him or highlight him any possible way, but you know, as a guy that plays on three phases, you know what I mean? helped us win defensively, helped us win offensively, uh, and then goes out there and stands in a way of three guys on a field goal uh, protection unit. So, anything that you can do to highlight those players like like him, like Tonga on our football team, uh, I’m all in favor for. So, thank you for the ones that have done that. um you know just trying to look at the way that we are constructed and you know we don’t need a little bigger size in there and try to try to push the pile a little bit and get some movement. So um and I think he does a nice job at it too. He’s got a good feel for it. Helped us in the short yardage in Atlanta and helped us last week. So um you know I know that if asked and called upon he’ll he’ll be willing to help us again. Like Nick Sabin used to want his team, he talked about not wanting them to drink the rat poison when they were getting hyped for being good. You guys have kind of avoided that, flown under the radar, but I think now there’s probably kegs of rat poison nationally in the media. As a player andor coach, have you been able to sense what a team might be up for maybe a let down and then what can you do to avoid that? I mean, I think those are always hard. That’s human nature. I mean, we just have to stay consistent through our actions and that quick turnaround. These guys were locked in, prepared, you know, like I there’s times where I want to, you know, pull the head coaching card out and, you know, stray away and kind of, you know, run around here slamming everything, yelling and really haven’t had to, you know, where you try to make up, you know, fabricate some conflict. And yesterday they responded. They did everything we asked them to do. Recovery, preparation, the walkthrough practices, being able to run and get some of the the soreness out of them. They bought into that. So those are all really positive things. Um, you know, we you never want to, you know, take the cheese and um get into all that and and certainly there’s a human element to it. Yeah. But, uh, you know, when things are going good, you have to be able to prepare for things when they’re not. And and I think that we try to do that. We try to stay focused, uh, so that, uh, that we’re not in any sort of like panic mode. What do you think it is about the making of the team that allows them to be locked in, doing all the things you want them to do? Well, I think it’s the the leadership. I think that the guys that we have here, I think it starts uh with the coaches being able to give them a clear message and I think the what the expectations are and you know I think the consistency they’ve appreciated that you know for example trying to just move the time back to give them some more rest but not shorten the the meetings. Um, I said, “Hey, I can give up, you know, 25 minutes on Thursday in the squad.” And, you know, they all were like, “No, that’s an important meeting.” The leaders were like, “That’s an important meeting. You know, we do the the mental performance. We like the questions and all that.” And I said, “Okay.” You know what I mean? Then we’ll figure out a way to make the schedule. But, you know, that just used that as an example that it wasn’t a a setup question. And it was like me just trying to find some extra time to give them in the meetings but also you know come in a little later and you know I appreciated that that they they thought that was an important part of their day as well. So I think it is just about the leadership. You get a sense of that early Mike with this group or kind of Well so many new faces. I think it’s hard in the spring. Nobody’s really challenged or, you know, we’re just kind of learning each other. And then training camp, you kind of just focus on the on the day and and the hour and the practice and the installation. And so then I think that that grows. I think that that that something that’s built and you have to put time into that. Aaron Glenn and the Jets, what what do you see? I I see a young, excited team that basically said, “Here, this is what we’re going to do for our future, and we’re not going to complain about it. We’re not going to mope about it. We’re going to play hard. We’re going to get use our speed. We’re going to use Bree. We’re going to use our our return units that are sensational. We’re going to play tough defense and um you know, give them give them credit. You know, I mean, it a lot of teams people could have been complaining and hey, we got rid of one of our one of the best defensive linemen in the league and a corner and everything else and that that didn’t show up at all and I saw an energy. I saw excitement that was um that jumped off the screen. So, uh this will this will be a challenge. I know they’ll be ready to go on the road and um and we’ll have to continue to, you know, prepare and then then ultimately play well. Why did it I was just going to ask, what’s it say to you when you have a a locker room full of guys who believe at whenever the time comes that their teammate will make the play? Well, not only that, I think that there is confidence in each other, but also the excitement that they have when somebody else does make a play. I think that that’s really the the sense of your character is can you be excited for somebody else when they’re out there making a play and whether that’s a receiver that’s excited for another receiver that’s a defensive lineman that’s excited for a defensive lineman when they get a sack. Um, you know, just watching the end of our game and, you know, people that I care about and people that I love and trust, they send me things that they see and you get the whole sideline offensive players that are cheering and up and into the game when it’s fourth down or we get a stop and, you know, those are things that are important to me that I showed the team that, you know, we can’t lose sight of. In light of the Jets being this team that’s so committed to the run, how did you feel the defense did from an execution and communication standpoint against the run last week? I I appreciate the question, but that’s last week. I mean, will have a huge challenge this week and you know whether it’s there’s game runs with the quarterback, whether it’s Bree Hall, whether it’s the under center, the gun runs, the the pull schemes, the perimeter runs. So that’s all that’s going to matter this week is how we, you know, do those and whatever scheme runs that they have coming up that we’ll have to prepare for and tackle. And, you know, it’s a it’s a game toame process in this league whether you know, statistically you’re one or Jason is somebody who’s been showing up this entire season. Uh I think maybe wasn’t on everybody’s radar when you guys brought him in as a free agent. What did you see when you first signed him and compared to who he’s grown as this season with this team? Yeah, I think when he was on our radar because we were targeting some players defensively, I felt like, you know, Smitty came back with his review and I kind of came back with mine. I was like, “All right, pretty he he plays hard. He’s got some speed and and it looks like he um tries to finish.” and and that’s what jumped off the screen was the was the effort and and the speed and um you know from from the get-go I think the biggest thing that that we loved is that his willingness to be on the punt team and he wanted to be on the punt team and that’s a that’s a huge um unit to be on you know so that’s a lot of trust that’s involved with that and that’s something that he quickly wanted to do and it was important to him so that that meant a lot and I think he’s just taking advantage of opportunities unities and love working with him. He cares and um excited that he can he can help us. He plays a lot he plays a lot of snaps and power plays a lot of snaps at that position. Elijah had the big sack at the end of the game um the other day. Is he somebody you could see maybe being more part of the rotation as the season goes on here? Yeah, I mean I think we just have to be conscious of um you know how how the how the play time and the effect that it has and where these guys are physically and you know making sure that we’re working you know people in there that uh you know that that earned the right to be in there and we want a rotation and you know play a certain way. So we’ll we’ll keep working guys in that that we can. My follow on from the tongue of play on the offensive side of the ball just in general when you see those position change. Is that something that you see from the player on the pra on the practice squad uh practice field or you have some guys like in your mind that you want to test and see if that player has the potential to do that? I think it’s probably um a vision, you know. I think you’re like who can do this and you go through and you end up with a couple names and then process of elimination. So I think it’s vision and then just watching the you know skill set maybe how they play and um you know it’s impressive just on him real quick is just how quickly he gets out of his stance and you know he’s been able to get out in front of the running back. Sometimes fullbacks are a little slower and they’re out of, you know, out of phase with the runner and the runner’s running up their heels. So, you know, you just try to look and be creative and and see where guys can help you. Thanks, guys.

Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel addresses the media on Tuesday, November 11, 2025.

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