Good morning. Here are your Patriots news 5-11 and notes for this week. First of all, Happy Mother’s Day to all of you wonderful moms out there. We all hope that you have a happy and fun time surrounded by loved ones. Hamingjusöm móðir.
The Patriots opened their annual three day rookie mini camp on Friday, and things will wrap up later today. We’ll have more of mini camp below.
Only one player and one coach were absent. Running back TreVeyon Henderson was not there; no reason was given for his absence.
Williams Absent Due To a Medical Scare:
Defensive Coordinator Terrell Williams was not on the field due to a health scare that he suffered back in March.
Williams spoke to the media via a conference call on Friday and wouldn’t get into specifics about what that medical scare was but said, he’d address it at a future date. He also made it clear that while physically at the facility, he was in contact with his players and fellow coaches.
“I want to make it clear, I’m away from the building, but I’m not away from the team,” he said, and thanked doctors, nurses and therapists who have been involved with his care.
“I’m working remotely right now. Hopefully I’ll be able to get back soon and just be in the building and be around everyone … I’ll just say right now that I’m doing OK and I appreciate all the prayers from everybody.”
Williams situation was serious and as he described it a “wake-up” call.
“We all have different stress levels. Football is a job that obviously there is some stress involved. Just eating right. Working out. If you’re supposed to take any medication, take it. Like I told the players, we all think we’re invincible,” he said.
“I think a lot of times, when there are things you can prevent, and you don’t prevent them, that’s just not being smart. That’s what I’ve done the last couple of years, even longer. I’ve ignored doctors. I’ve ignored everyone and just kind of lived my life. While it was fun, I realize you have to take care of yourself. That’s what I’m doing, he added.
“Where I am now, my mind is clear. I’m moving around. I’m happy. Everything is good. I’m just looking forward to getting back to Foxborough and seeing everybody in person.”
Due to Williams’ forced medical absence, Inside linebackers coach Zak Kuhr has been handling Williams’ responsibilities, getting the nod of approval from Williams who said the defense was in “great hands” with Zak.
“Zak has great knowledge of what we’ve done in the past, with me and this system, and with Terrell,” Vrabel said.
Quick Hitters For the Patriots and NFL News:
Mike Vrabel: To call the new Patriots head coach hands-on during practice might be a vast understatement.
“Boy, the man is non-stop,” NBC Sports Boston’s Phil Perry said of Vrabel. “Toss that man some kind of pain reliever for the throat, specifically, because he is at a high volume and he is constantly saying something to someone. He just won’t stop coaching. It was entertaining to watch. I’m sure it’s beneficial to the players, because they are hanging on his every word.
“At one point, he was wearing a yellow pinny with the number 51 on it. He’s playing middle linebacker in an 11-on-11 sort of drill. He’s working with defensive linemen in the individual position drills. …
“Maybe the most interesting part of the practice might have been when he was working with players on the punt coverage team, and just the timing and the footwork and the hand placement and the purpose, really. … He was in their ears constantly and letting them have it at times.”
Joh Jiles: The Patriots’ second-year wide receiver took part in rookie mini camp along with cornerback Miles Battle. Jiles stood out with a nice catch that he went up and snagged and got a nice response from Vrabel.
Rookies Sign: The Patriots signed eight of their 11 2025 NFL Draft picks and 16 undrafted free agents on Friday before rookie minicamp kicked off.
The Patriots signed WR Kyle Williams, C Jared Wilson, DT Joshua Farmer, LB Bradyn Swinson, K Andy Borregales, T Marcus Bryant, LS Julian Ashby and DB Kobee Minor to their four-year rookie contracts.
The only remaining draft picks to sign are Will Campbell, TreVeyon Henderson, and Craig Woodson. However, Woodson and Campbell were in attendance for the rookie minicamp.
They also announced the signings of the following rookie free agents: T Cole Birdow, WR Demeer Blankumsee, WR Efton Chism III, G Jack Conley, CB Brandon Crossley, TE C.J. Dippre, FB Brock Lampe, RB Lan Larison, S Josh Minkins, CB Jordan Polk, LB Elijah Ponder, LB Cam Riley, DT Jahvaree Ritzie, TE Gee Scott Jr., WR Jeremiah Webb and QB Ben Wooldridge.
All 16 of the UDFAs had previously been reported as intending to sign with the team.
Patriots No Huddle Podcast: Derek, Mike D’Abate, and I discussed the draft and the Patriots roster with 98.5’s AlexBarth. Please check us out and listen to us on YouTube, Apple, or Spotify. And please leave us a review.
Russ Francis/Chuck Fairbanks: The former Patriot tight end and head coach should be in the Patriots team Hall of Fame, and the fact that Francis isn’t is an absolute travesty. Francis and the Raiders’ Dave Casper changed how teams used the tight end position. This will be displayed in our Sunday posts until it happens. Casper is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Francis’ numbers stand up well against Casper’s, yet he isn’t even in the team’s HOF.
Patriots Rookie Mini Camp, Is Vrabel’s Show:
“What we do in life echoes in eternity.” Maximus Decimus Meridius
On Day 1, of Rookie Mini Camp, Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel was the star of the show. His incredible energy and hands-on approach was there for all to see. And the young players loved it.
Vrabel bounced around from place to place, encouraging players, chewing some behinds when it was needed, but always teaching, hands on from defensive line, offensive line, the edge rushers, tight ends, and special teams.
“I love that,” offensive lineman Jared Wilson said of Vrabel’s constant teaching and jumping into the fray. “It shows you how much he cares, and how much he cares about the rookies, and how much he cares about their development and everybody, not just the drafted guys, but literally everybody that’s a rookie. He cares about everything and is hands on. It’s just great to see him out there actually running around with us.”
“Vrabel’s funny. He’s a funny guy. He’s definitely a player’s coach,” Wilson said. “And he played in the league for a really long time so he knows what it’s supposed to look like. How it’s supposed to look like, what the speed is supposed to be like.
“And he cares about this organization and about his players. You can tell how he comes into the building every single day. How serious and intent he is with the details.”
First-round draft pick, left tackle Will Campbell was impressed too. “When I was a high school kid, you’d always see videos of him with his hands on the offensive players,” Campbell said, “so for me to be able to experience that, get that type of coaching from a head coach is pretty cool.”
Vrabel was asked about his bouncing around, always teaching players in all phases of the game, and he had this to say.
“No, I don’t think anything’s changed for me as far as my involvement in all three phases. [I’ve] helped with the special teams, enjoy those meetings, because I know how critical it is for some players, some tight ends.
For example, Jaheim [Bell]and Jack Westover, that really haven’t had a whole lot of experience in that. Those are the players that are eager and excited to learn that. So we’re going to try to help them, that they can help themselves and help the team.
“Love being in the offensive line, love being with the defense. Sitting in with the receivers, I learn a lot, and I feel like there’s things that I can help [with] as well.“
You have to love this, not that it is a surprise, but what better way to build a team and a culture than to see the head coach (and his staff), teaching, getting involved and caring about its players. That automatically gets the young guns totally buying in. There could be as many as 4-5 UDFAs making this roster.
Kyle Williams Flashes On Day 1:
Rookie WR Kyle Williams looked as advertised in rookie mini camp. Perry in his estimation said, “Kyle Williams, to me, looks like an X receiver. That’s where he was in college. His size might indicate that he should be somewhere else, according to some people.
“He looks like an X here too, at least that’s probably where they’re gonna start him. … It will be interesting to see moving forward where they end up moving him around.“
“He made a couple of really nice catches in this practice,” Perry said.
“One on a comeback route, corners playing way off and respecting the speed. Stops, comes back, not an easy catch. He had to actually leave his feet. Goes up, high-points the thing, comes down inbounds. That was probably his best catch of the day. … I thought it was a good practice for Kyle Williams, and we’ll see moving forward just how much chemistry he’s able to develop with a guy like Drake Maye.”
MassLive’s outstanding beat writer Karen Gueregian wrote about how Williams learned how to get separation off the line of scrimmage by watching film of new Patriot WR Stefon Diggs do it.
“The NFL has always been my dream, So in order to get there, you have to watch the people that’s been there, and done that,” Williams said.
“Diggs was just somebody I always watched as a kid, and most of the other receivers, so being able to learn from their tools, and being able to add it to my bag, and do it on a consistent basis.”
Williams hasn’t had a chance to meet his childhood hero yet, but that should be coming soon. Fans should be clamoring for when those two get on the field together with Drake Maye.
98.5’s Alex Barth who was a guest on our podcast this week, pointed out that a couple of players stand out for looking bigger than they actually are, mentioning former Alabama tight end C.J. Dippre and tackle Marcus Bryant. I really like Dippre as an UDFA making the roster this year. As I mentioned above, this roster is going to have a lot of rookies on it. I could nine draftees and 4-5 UDFAs making this team. Talk about a roster turnover?
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“I think it’s critical. I think the amount of field position that changes hands and the kickoff and how critical that return phase is going to be and the ability to get the ball and understand after the adjustments that were made in the rules.
“How we limit penalties. When you talk about the impact that penalties make on the return phase, how critical those are, the lost yardages. You can create momentum. You could maintain momentum, you can maintain momentum. Being able to flip the field when we have to punt.
“We’ve worked on punts so much. I told them the other day, ‘I hope we don’t have to punt that much, but if we do, I think we’re ready for it just from how much we’ve worked at it and how much they’ve improved in the first installation with the veteran players.
“Special teams is how I made it in the first four years of my career. It’s certainly something that I can appreciate and explain to the players how critical that is for most of these rookies outside of the alignment, it’ll be their easiest way to a role on this football team.”
Patriots Head Coach Mike Vrabel on establishing a culture, and setting a tone for your football team with special teams and how important that phase of the game is.
“We’ll find out. I think that just the draft grades and all that, like, who really knows? I mean, that stuff is, like we always say, it’s interesting, but I don’t think that’s very important.
“What’s important is how they continue to build a role on this football team and how they get acclimated to what we’re trying to do in the program. So I think it’s a great group that seems responsible, that all handle the communication about getting here and the hotel.
“There hasn’t been any issues, and not that we expect any, I’m just saying that these guys are off to a good start just as far as the professionalism that we expect, and then we’ll coach them up from what we see on the field.“
Vrabel on what his early impressions are of the rookie class that he’s seen so far.
“I think it was in Three Rivers Stadium. It was in the outfield of Three Rivers Stadium, and they laid down two plastic stripes in the outfield, and that’s about what we had. I remember that.
“I think I was #96 at the time. I think I probably wore four numbers at Pittsburgh. So when guys make a big deal about numbers, I’m like, ‘I think I had four of them in the first four years of my career.’
“I don’t remember a whole bunch. I don’t. Other than being in the outfield of Three Rivers Stadium and having to be off the field at a certain time because there was batting practice that was starting.“
Vrabel on what he remembers of his first rookie training camp with the Steelers.
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“Somebody asked me what success looks like, and I said, ‘Yeah, you can judge it by wins and losses during the season, but success for me in the offseason is going to be that the players believe in what we’re doing, and they believe in the message, they believe in the teaching, and they believe in the connections that we’re making.’” — Mike Vrabel
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