Mike Vrabel brought some levity to his final press conference before the AFC Championship Game.
With only four teams remaining, there’s inherently more attention on the Patriots than at any point this season. When Vrabel was asked about keeping his team on task, the coach offered a sarcastic remark to a reporter’s suggestion that led to a lot of laughs.
Reporter: How do you get the players to drown out the noise? Do you advise them to stay off their phones? Is there any special —
“Oh, OK, yeah, try that,” Vrabel interjected, shaking his head dismissively as laughter filled the room. “You guys. Stay off their phones. Yeah, I’ll try that. See if that works.”
The coach then tried to provide a more polished answer, but still steered back to sarcasm at the end.
“No, we’ll just try to stay as consistent as possible,” Vrabel said. “I think from the time that we’ve started this thing up until now, we’ve tried to stay as consistent as possible. Continued to coach the actions, not the results. Focus on the things that we need to do to win and the environment and making sure our operation is good and the defense is as prepared as possible for anything that could happen and that the special teams (is ready for) their role in the game. That’s about all you can do. ”
“But I’ll try the stay off your phone thing” Vrabel cracked again. “See if that works.”
Later in the press conference, Vrabel was asked a question about the Patriots’ travel plans with a snowstorm bearing down on New England. He couldn’t resist another jab at the phones suggestion.
“I think we have multiple plans of what could go on based on the weather,” Vrabel said. “Something that they’re familiar with here. I mean, there’s things I can control. Players staying off their phone and the weather are two things that I can’t control.”