Those outside the confines of Gillette Stadium might be asking for on-field changes after merely three games, but Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel has made it clear he will stand by his players.

Former Patriots executive Scott Pioli believes that will go a long way toward Vrabel building trust.

“What he’s doing right now is he’s protecting his football team,” Pioli said on Patriots Postgame Live on Sunday afternoon after New England’s 21-14 loss to the Steelers.

Vrabel did so when he lauded Andy Borregales and ultimately awarded the rookie kicker a game ball after the team’s Week 2 win over the Miami Dolphins. Borregales, who missed a pair of extra points in South Beach, rebounded with what proved to be a crucial field goal.

Vrabel did the same thing with Rhamondre Stevenson one week later. After the team’s Week 3 defeat on Sunday, a game in which Stevenson fumbled the ball twice, Vrabel backed the fifth-year running back. He expressed how the Patriots will need Stevenson moving forward and later said it’s on the entire team to protect the football.

Speaking to reporters on Monday morning, Vrabel said his plan is to ensure the Patriots “practice the crap out of it.”

Pioli believes players in the locker room will appreciate his public support.

“When you first come to a place, you’re either gonna be like Hagar the Horrible and just wreck the place, or you’re gonna understand this new kind of player,” Pioli said. “You can still coach hard, but there’s also a new kind of player, and this is where Mike Vrabel is very, very smart.

“Players are different, and you have to give — Mike’s earning some trust right now with the players by not benching someone immediately, by what he did with the kicker (Andy Borregales), I think he’s earning some trust in that locker room.”

Vrabel’s front-facing messages don’t mean he’s not tightening the screws behind the scenes, though. Accountability is being preached in the meeting rooms, Pioli said.

“There will be accountability,” Pioli said. “… I’m gonna tell you, and you (Ted Johnson) were in that locker room, there are not too many players that held other players more accountable than Mike did. It’s coming, and we just don’t know when it’s coming. But you’ve also got to give people an opportunity.”

Until the opportunities run their course, that is.