During his playing days, Mike Vrabel is remembered as a talented, fiery player who was a terrific teammate and did all the right things during his Patriots career.
Maybe that’s why he has such an affinity for defensive end, Keion White.
Vrabel was asked about White on Friday, and didn’t hold back with his praise for his third-year player.
“Well, I love Keion’s attitude,” said Vrabel. “He’s a worker. He’s a here early… He’s got a routine that I think has worked for him. He practices hard. He’s conditioned. So again, as we work through this and progress, and we’re just a couple of days into this, but I think Keion has got a great attitude. I love just being able to coach him. He’s very receptive. He’s a very coachable player.”
So far, the feeling appears to be mutual. White has also had high praise for Vrabel, while often hinting that he wasn’t necessarily a fan of the previous coaching staff.
With Vrabel, things feel like they’re different. There is clearly a mutual respect, and there’s a bond in place that didn’t feel like it existed previously. White has expressed his desire to grow as a player, and Vrabel’s been vocal when it comes to being passionate about helping guys grow in their profession.
That didn’t sound like it was happening last year. While White ended up having a productive season, it felt like there was some internal conflict when it came to his role on the defense. He finished the 2024 campaign with five sacks and five passes defended, but there were whispers among veteran defensive players about guys freelancing, and White was rumored to be a part of the guys they were referring to.
Now that Vrabel is in charge, that likely will no longer be the case. He’s a former player who understands the need to play within the defense and when to make a big play, and he obviously did it at a high level. If the rumors are true, whether or not White can walk that fine line this season will be interesting to follow. But it doesn’t change the fact that so far, their initial working relationship appears to be strong.
Still, White has seemingly had a very business-like approach when it comes to their conversations, which Vrabel also pointed out. But for now, the most important thing is the fact the two seem to be on the same page, which is definitely a great sign heading into the season.
“I mean, Keion, there’s not a lot of fluff to him,” said Vrabel. “Our conversations are mostly… He wants to know football. He wants to talk football. That’s his profession. That’s his career. That’s his passion. So, we talk a lot of football, and I’ve enjoyed getting to know him.”
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Ian Logue is a Seacoast native and owner and senior writer for PatsFans.com, an independent media site covering the New England Patriots and has been running this site in one form or another since 1997.
You don’t free lance and NOT “do your job”, regardless of who the coaches are. Especially a younger player (second year), that is not even on a contract year. White was easily seen on film doing so. It’s a small world in the NFL and people talk. Malcom Butler was blatantly free lancing on his contract year and the coaches lost faith in him. Trust evaporated and they needed him at CB. That was one reason for the sit-down in the Superbowl. To me it’s way to early to deem White a changed man. Likely, he is who he is.… Read more »