Mike Vrabel on Patriots Fans: “We Gotta Give Them Reasons to Cheer.” | Patriots Press Conference

Mike Vrabel on Patriots Fans: “We Gotta Give Them Reasons to Cheer.” | Patriots Press Conference

Mike, uh just a thought on second game in five days, what you guys were able to do the focus this week and uh guys stepping up, making plays, pet us, ponder just as the game went along. Yeah, I mean testament to our players, our staff. I thanked him so many times just being able to to roll in there on Monday, have stuff prepared, you know, it’s hard to, you know, go on the road to to Tampa, you know, and get your mind, you know, ready for that, but also in the back of your mind got a whole another box about, you know, what are you going to do against the Jets and being able to get on a plane, come home, get in late, but have that ready to go and have energy and a game plan ready for the players. on um on Monday at 1:00. So, thank the trainers, thank the staff, the strength staff, everybody involved for for getting our players ready to go uh for the game here in a short short week. Hi, Mike. Hi, Karen. Um 1a, sorry. Um your fans were chanting MVP for Drake from the minute he came out. um in almost every series. What did you make of his performance tonight and his performance in general in route to Well, I would say his performance in general has been, you know, what we expect and um you know, we have high expectations for Drake. He has high expectations for himself. He’ll continue to improve I know that he’ll stay humble through this all. And you know, again, as far as the performance tonight, I thought it was, you know, again, in first view, you know, pretty pretty good. It was good enough to win. We took care of the football. We just have to, you know, continue to um focus on the little things, operation, unforced errors throughout the, you know, the offense. The only thing that’s really stops us is us, um, you know, offensively. So, continue to do that. let them enjoy uh a win on a short week. And like I told him, I’m excited that we’re nine and two. I’m excited that I don’t have to see him till Monday. Um Mike Roberts Bl was telling us about guys coming back from Tampa and going straight to the facility, sauna, hot tub as part of the recovery process. What’s involved in that plan and and how do you piece that together? just looking back and just trying to get everybody together and say, “Hey, what can we do that maybe we’ve wanted to do or thought about doing on a short week, just exhaust every avenue, giving guys IVs before we left Tampa, um having the massage therapists, everybody on all hands on deck here, but also having um a schedule, you know, our assistant trainer went around, Mike B went around and scheduled everybody so that there could be like a flowchart and guys didn’t walk in at 11:30 and say, “Well, I can’t get a massage cuz Morgan Moses is is already on the table. So, it was, you know, let’s let’s make sure that this is planned out and there’s some thought to it and give our players the best opportunity to recover. So, that’s what we did. Hi, Mike. Um, what did you see from the defense on New York’s opening drive and why do you think it’s just been so difficult to get that stop on the opening possession this season? The quarterback tonight, you know what I mean? we couldn’t faster than most of the guys we got and didn’t do a good enough job. So, we recovered a little bit and uh you know, we’ll have to try to continue to to be better there. But, you know, there’s there’s plenty of opportunities and places where we play good defense and I have to remember that um that they can get a first down and we can still stop them, you know? I mean, it doesn’t have to be three and out every time. Alen Seagull on your left. Mike, last two games, Jack Gibbons has had a lot of production. How does he personify what you’re building with this defense in terms of his importance to it? Now, Dr. Gibby always knows usually what to do for the most part. He’s usually in the right place at the right time. Sniffs out them screens. I mean, just kind of, you know, seems to be in the right place at the right time. Does his job. Usually does it fairly well. and uh he’s a great teammate, cares deeply about his teammates and he’s fun to coach and he’s a great person to be around each and every day. Mike U Milton Williams went out looked like he came back, gave it a go. Um, was it a situation where in a different situation that maybe he could have gone? Maybe. Maybe I made it just a decision that it felt like, you know, we should probably just start treating that thing and and get ahead of it and see where he’s at here tomorrow in the next couple days and, you know, try to weigh again. He he wanted to to try to go and, you know, say he’s out here standing with me when guys are coming in and he’s excited for him. So, I appreciate his leadership. Um, but I just made a decision that I felt like was best for the team and that that, you know, for his instance. Coach, uh, Mark Stman, CBS News. Good to see you. Uh, working on a piece about Patriots fans. If you look back in your eight years as a player, your experiences as a visiting coach and now as a head coach, what strikes you about this fan base? Well, I think they’re passionate. I think that they have high expectations. I think that they are uh they’re loyal. And I think they’re knowledgeable. I think they understand what it is that they should be seeing. I think they, like I said, we got to give them reasons to cheer and be excited. Um, so yeah, I mean, I think we’ve done that. I think that we and they’ve in return have given us a a great atmosphere to uh to play in front of. Thank you, Mike. Uh, what are your thoughts on Travon Henderson and what he’s brought the team? I would say the best, you know, couple runs he had were there late in the game when it’s tough sledding and we’re in five minute and they know we’re going to run and they’re blitzing and everything else and looked like we were going to be short and he’s able to to knife through there and keep his pads down and pick up a huge first down. So he’s executed, you know, whether that’s a checkown or the touchdown in the back of the end zone and, you know, no home runs tonight, but and I thought he grinded out pretty much what was there. It’s always, you know, helped us a lot of ways tonight and saw the pile push touchdown which was really cool. And so I’m happy every time that, you know, guys can help us and they can get into the end zone and Christian Barmore can finally get the the sack that he’s been looking for and he they had a lot of pressures and he’s been back there and, you know, they work they work really hard and then they I want them to to all have success. Last question, Taylor. Uh uh the Jets came in with one of the best return units in the league. What were you able to see on the initial viewing that allowed you to slow them down and contain them? Well, I thought we uh got off blocks. They didn’t give them a lot of space. Um you know, schooler got triple teamed one time, went down there and made a play and we punted well. You know, the Gunners did a nice job. Um but you’re right, you know, they have a really good return unit. I thought our kickoff coverage took a lot of pride and I think we’ve done a really good job of covering kicks and so that was a good challenge. They stood up to it. It’s a good unit and uh I was excited to watch him, you know, bring some energy to the sidelines. I told you if everybody’s going to get up off the bench, we better give them something to cheer about. So, thank you guys. Have a good weekend.

Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel address the media on Thursday, November 13, 2025.

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