TRANSCRIPT: Mike Vrabel’s Press Conference 5/28
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Here’s what New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel had to say during his press conference during Patriots OTAs on Wednesday.
On the video of Stefon Diggs being on a boat, having a good time, but the question regarding a certain substance that people are guessing what is and isn’t, and if it’s something the team will look into:
“Well, it’s something that we’re aware of, and obviously, we want to make great decisions on and off the field. We’re hoping that with our time here on the field today, and that when we don’t have a script and we’re on the call up periods, that we’re making great decisions. And so the message will be the same for all our players that we’re trying to make great decisions, and any conversations that I’ve had with Stefon will remain between him and I and the club.”
On if he’s talked to him since the video:
“I talk to our players every single day, the ones that are here and the ones that aren’t.
On if he’s expecting him to practice today:
“Not if he’s not here.”
So he’s not here?
“You guys will find out in a minute. But no.”
On the fact he was here last week, according to a video:
“Everything that we’re going to do, Karen [Guregian], is we’re going to coach the guys that show up at 8: 00, the ones that say, ‘Hey, I got a situation. We’ll be at 8: 05.’ We’ll coach those as well. This is a voluntary part of our offseason program. Every player that’s not here, which there aren’t many, have been in communication with me and their position coaches.”
On based on what he’s seen from the times he’s been around, how he would say he’s progressing:
“Again, the timelines and the prognosis and everything at, again, we’re working hard to get him back and to be ready to go. But when he’s here, we’ll coach him and we’ll have everything ready to go.”
On if he has any updates on defensive coordinator Terrell Williams:
“No, just that he continues to, like our players, work hard to get back and excited to have him back. Again, the communication that I see every day with him and the players in their meetings, in the Zoom meeting. I know that he’s excited, and hopefully, we’ll get him back here sooner rather than later.”
On the fact the last time they were out there, Drake Maye had some interceptions, and if he ‘cares,’ and if it’s something that bothers him and how he views moments like that:
“I care. I think that I care about every player’s performance, and that we continue to improve, and that there has been great improvement over the day. Everybody’s going to have a bad day. There’s a lot of reasons that go into it. We’re not going to analyze every single practice and have explanations for things that came up. But the command, the operation, all those things have continued to improve. And, I don’t know who asked me, but ‘What I thought would be a successful day?’ And then, sure enough, I told you those things weren’t going to happen. So hopefully the operation, the communication today, the execution, has got to be better. We only have so many of these opportunities, and I’m hopeful that in front of us, the crowd, the media, that we have a better day.”
On if he feels like the defense, at this point, is further along with their installation compared to the offense and how big of a gap does he feel there is:
“Well, I don’t think that they’re further along. I think that it’s probably… I have not… This is hard. This is a hard time in the spring when every pass play is third and 10. I mean, it’s just they’re pass rushing, they’re pressuring, and they’re blitzing, which is great. We have to be able to block and see everything, but it is a passing camp. It didn’t take the Keion and Casey and Christian and Milt and Harold long to figure that out. So it’s, it kind of is what it is, which is good. And then again, they know how to practice. We have to be able to speed and pass rush and then stay away from the quarterback, get out of the way, stay off the ground, all those things that they’ve been able to do over the course of the first four OTAs.”
On what it was like to get Rhamondre Stevenson back at Practice:
“Well, it’s great to have everybody here. I want to support him through this process the best that we can. That’s probably a little bit more difficult. He doesn’t know us as well. So his communication, I appreciated, but it’s great to have him back, and then we’ll work him along, make sure that he’s ready to get out there. So I don’t know how much you’ll see him in some of the live team action. I don’t think that’s fair to him to just throw him back out there. But there’s certainly a return to play like a lot of players will have throughout the course of the year.”
On when he has a young wide receiver, with the new faces in terms of the players and coaches, and how much of a focus there’s been this spring in terms of team building and getting guys to learn each other:
“I think that’s important. I think the execution is also important. The ability to work with another player out on the field, a guy next to you. Linemen are going to move around, have to pop in a different position, quarterbacks are going to have to throw to different players. But I certainly think that part of this process of playing this game is about building relationships and connections with players and coaches alike.”
On if he’ll have a leading voice in Drake Maye’s development this year:
“I will have, I hope, a voice in every player’s development on our football team.”
On referring to whether it would be him, or Josh McDaniels and if there’s one voice that will take the lead or if it will be more collaborative:
“I think when I have something to say to Drake, I’ll say it. And I think when Josh wants to put plays in that can help him or explain what the read is…there’s going to be things that I’m not going to be as knowledgeable at when it relates to quarterbacks. But I think that there’ll be some other things where I can help them. We don’t have it scripted out. That’s … kind of our job is to figure out what to say and when to say it.”
On the fact they have a lot of numbers in the wide receiver room, and how does he separate…
“We have the same number of everybody else in the National Football League. We addressed that last week.”
On when he watches these guys, what is he looking for that separates them from what they’re doing:
“Do they know what to do? Can they line up? Can they catch the ball? Can they help the quarterback? That they play and they finish and they transition when they don’t… How fast they play when they don’t have the football in their hands. Some of that stuff we can see in the spring, and a lot of that stuff will materialize once we get to training camp.”
On how he feels about the safety rotation and if he’s sorted out anything as far as their roles:
“I don’t think anybody’s really sorted out anything as far as roles on this football team yet. I like the people. I like the players. I haven’t seen [Kyle] Dugger on the field just because he’s working through something which is not uncommon in the spring. Love Jabrill’s energy. I like his passion for the game. I like his energy when he comes in the building. Those things are all very positive. And then the new players and the new additions are trying to carve out a role as well.”
On his impressions of Cole Strange after rotating in at both guard and center last week:
“It’s hard to really identify the linemen. It’s a lot of pass protection, and it’s a quick whistle, and there’s no pads on. So again, Cole is working extremely hard. The versatility that he’ll be able to display is something that’ll be critical.”
On the fact he mentioned he wanted to see some things out of the wide receivers and what he’s seen from Kayshon Boutte in that regard:
“The same as everybody else, working hard. I think that he’s gotten in better shape as we started to go on to the OTAs, and I think that’s really started to help him as we stack plays together and we’re trying to string …. In the game, you don’t just take a play on and just come off and then go back. Hopefully, you can string together four or five plays as we work down the football field. So I think that he’s working to do that. I like his attitude. I enjoy his willingness to continue to improve and maybe do some things a little differently.”
On how he likes the pace of practice and the fact while the media has only been out there for one of them, it’s looked relatively intense:
“That means a lot coming from you, Phil [Perry]. Thank you.”
I’m a pretty good gauge. I’m a pretty intense guy myself.
On how he strikes the balance between you want guys to be competitive, but you also don’t want guys-
“Yeah, I think that’s the biggest coach speak in the spring as you’re talking out of both sides of your mouth. It’s like, ‘Compete, but stay up.’ ‘Compete, but the receiver has the right to the football.’ We can’t go through the back of them. I think that the energy is there. I think the urgency is there. I like to see guys running off the field. Coming out on the field, to take the field, to be ready to go, breaking the huddle, lining up, having an urgency to which we practice. I think all those things, hopefully, will lead to better execution.”
On the fact there’s been a lot of talk about his involvement in practice, and the fact he’s been out there coaching guys one-on-one, and how important it is for him to coach all 90 guys on the roster:
“Well, I think it’s important. I think, one, I enjoy it. I like it. I love it. I try to be as knowledgeable at every position as I possibly can, some more than others. We reference the quarterback, but having something at each position group that can maybe translate from my perspective to help the player. But then I also think that where the head coach is is probably what the players think are important. So I try to be a little bit everywhere.”
On as he’s implemented his defensive scheme, how he feels the communication has been with those units early on:
“Good. I think that when we split the squads up, I hear both fields talking and communicating. Tthere’s going to be times, hopefully a lot of times at our home games where the defense is going to have to signal, hand signal, eye contact, nonverbal communication because it’s loud. We’ve created a great environment by the way that we’re playing, and our fans are embracing that. So I think that that’s always important. And then obviously offensively, when we go on the road, we’re going to have to have different silent counts and be on the same page in a loud environment.”
On where the hands-on part of his coaching came from, and if it was just a transition from his playing days, and the fact it seems like he’s been more hands-on with the players in a good way with working with every single player:
“When I got to Ohio State, they didn’t leave the manual underneath the desk. So I just kind of went with whatever I felt like was best for me and fit my style, and it’s kind of stuck.”
“Thank you.”
(EDITOR’S NOTE: This transcript was done based on the available footage and is subject to typographical errors. If you spot anything, please let me know in the comments below.)
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WHy would a media person ask Vrable if “the defensive installation is ahead of the offense at this point”? First of all, that is almost always true every year in camp.It’s default that’s well known historically, even when your players are operating in the same system as the prior year…and let alone an early unpadded OTA in May. The real questions are how the pats are approaching installation of an entirely new offense system and do they expect it will be partially or fully installed by week1? Secondly, on the D side, is it a whole new system…?… or how… Read more »