{"id":234090,"date":"2025-07-25T04:25:10","date_gmt":"2025-07-25T04:25:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/234090\/"},"modified":"2025-07-25T04:25:10","modified_gmt":"2025-07-25T04:25:10","slug":"mike-vrabel-puts-jabrill-peppers-in-his-place-with-wild-flex","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/234090\/","title":{"rendered":"Mike Vrabel puts Jabrill Peppers in his place with wild flex"},"content":{"rendered":"

The New England Patriots\u2019 new head coach, Mike Vrabel<\/a>, wasted no time establishing a new tone in Foxborough in his first year as the team’s leader in 2025. Renowned for his physicality and no-nonsense attitude, Vrabel began training camp by getting hands-on with players and making headlines for a humorous but pointed exchange with veteran safety Jabrill Peppers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Vrabel, a Patriots legend and three-time Super Bowl champion, was spotted wearing a No. 5 jersey<\/a>, Peppers\u2019 number, during walkthroughs. When Peppers saw it, he jokingly challenged Vrabel.<\/p>\n

\u201cI keep telling him to take that 5 off because he\u2019s not tough enough,\u201d Peppers said with a smile. \u201cHe told me to go check in on the Patriots Hall of Fame. Nothing I could say to come back from that.\u201d<\/p>\n

There\u2019s weight behind Vrabel\u2019s flex. He was inducted into the Patriots Hall of Fame in 2023, having played eight seasons in New England, making a Pro Bowl in 2007, and helping the team win three Super Bowls.<\/p>\n

A dominant linebacker during his playing career, Mike Vrabel logged 762 tackles, 57 sacks, 11 interceptions, and 11 total touchdowns, 10 of them receptions, despite being primarily a defensive player. He is the only defensive player to score touchdowns in two Super Bowls (XXXVIII and XXXIX). He made the Pro Bowl and First-team All-Pro in 2007 while wearing No. 50 for New England.<\/p>\n

Peppers, who dealt with legal issues in 2024 but enters this season with a clean slate, figures to be an essential figure in the Patriots’ secondary alongside Kyle Dugger. His chemistry with Vrabel, which traces back to a college recruiting visit when Vrabel routed him during a drill at Ohio State, has resurfaced now that they\u2019re reunited in New England.<\/p>\n

Vrabel\u2019s coaching style stands out in comparison to his predecessor, Bill Belichick<\/a>. While Belichick was known for his stoic sideline presence and signature hoodie, Vrabel, even at 49, is fully engaged, donning gear, sweating through drills, and participating across position groups.<\/p>\n

After serving as head coach of the Titans (2018\u20132023) and a consultant with the Browns in 2024, Vrabel brings new energy and a championship pedigree to a Patriots team eager to return to relevance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The New England Patriots\u2019 new head coach, Mike Vrabel, wasted no time establishing a new tone in Foxborough…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":234091,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2050],"tags":[7,7899,838,1167,249,2326,2094,6,208],"class_list":{"0":"post-234090","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-england-patriots","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-jabrill-peppers","10":"tag-mike-vrabel","11":"tag-new-england","12":"tag-new-england-patriots","13":"tag-newengland","14":"tag-newenglandpatriots","15":"tag-nfl","16":"tag-patriots"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114911977400247254","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234090","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=234090"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234090\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/234091"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=234090"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=234090"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=234090"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}