TRANSRIPT: Mike Vrabel’s Press Conference 8/4
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Here’s what head coach Mike Vrabel had to say ahead of Monday’s practice on August 8, 2025:
On his thoughts on the fact during the in-stadium practice the offense had some issues, a couple of interceptions, Rhamondre [Stevenson] put the ball on the ground:
“Yeah, the turnovers. I thought we did some really good things and tried to show them that. The turnovers are certainly going to get us beat. We had some passes that should have been caught. We had some, I would say, decisions, I think and hopefully, when we ask a receiver to run a play like that, that if it’s not there, there’s other ways to get out of the play. And he could continue to run. It’s out of the pocket. He could throw it away. So, those are great things to teach on in those specific instances. And Rhamondre, when you make a great cut and you break through, know that every team in the league, and hopefully ours is one of those teams, that the guys are coming to the ball and they’re going to come and hammer it, and they’re going to play full tilt to the tackle.”
“And so the cut, great cut. Good job in the open field. And fortunately, we’ll have to continue to rep that and take care of the football. But that’s something that those things that you mentioned, I think, overshadow a lot of the good stuff that we did in a team setting that had the team split up and had different guys working with different guys next to him.”
On the fact Rhamondre fumbled seven times last year and although he wasn’t here, if he gets a fresh, clean slate from him:
“Everybody has a fresh, clean slate. We like to go through those things, and some of that is technique, some of that is the second guy in. A lot of times, on fumbles, if you want to talk fumbles and ball security, I’m happy to do that. But one person is going to have the ball in their hand every play offensively, and the rest of those 10 players are going to be responsible for protecting the guy with the ball. And so, there were some instances where he put it on the ground, and there were some instances where the second guy came in. And we need to eliminate the second guy from coming in by the way that we play and our play demeanor, and the way that we finish. So clean slate, everybody has a clean slate. But also there’s things that have to change and be better at every position as we move towards the season.”
On Alex Austin’s interception at the end of the game and how much of that was situational awareness and how much of that could have been a better decision:
“Well, I mean, we would need to make… If the corner is flat-footed, we probably need to throw it over his head and live the fight another day. Credit to Double A. And I like, sometimes, when these things come up because now we can coach the quarterbacks to say, ‘Hey, if the guy’s not bailing, if he’s just sitting there standing flat-footed and you go over there, it’s a yes, no. You’re going to have to just decide that you can’t progress back and come over here to the field, you’re going to get sacked or strip-sacked. So throw it over his head.’ Being able to catch that ball, Double A, and end it, and then explain to him, go down, go down, go down. We have the lead. These are all great things that come up and allow us to coach.”
“Just like the drive before. We throw one into Kayshon [Boutte], and Kayshon does a nice job to get us in the field goal range. Thomas chose to call timeout. He was the head coach. That was his decision. I told the team, ‘Hey, listen, we have a couple of options. We can now go to the ball. We can clock the ball. It would be second down. We can center it wherever we want to center it. We can slow clock it. We can take a knee. I can call time out with three seconds, and we kick the winner.’ Those are all things that come up, and they come up organically, and it allows us to teach it and coach it. And I know that this happens. Having done this for however many years, I can show them. But until they actually are in that position, which they’re going to come up, the more that we do to a minute, just like today, we’re going to have end of game situation. Ball is going to be on the 25-yard line. It’s going to be 45 seconds. You’re going to see what the last plays are from the 5-yard line or the 10-yard line because that’s just where the ball is going to be, I would imagine. So then we can coach those up and see where it goes.”
“Sorry, that’s a long-winded answer, but there’s a lot of different situations that come up just by repping it. I can show them, but then when they actually are in it, I said, ‘Okay, now we can coach from our example.'”
On what his plan is for the quarterback rotation Friday night:
“It’s Monday. We’re focusing on the red zone, focusing on being real precise down there, not going backwards, not hurting ourselves. Defense, defending every blade of grass, making sure that we undercut when all the details for the red zone that are going to hopefully help us in the season. That’s where my focus is, getting back to fundamentals. Then when Friday comes around, I’ll try to do my best to let everybody know.”
On the fact he said he was looking forward to the first full padded practice to identify some of the guys who caught his eye and now that he’s seen them, what he wants from them now:
“Well, I mean, I think continued growth. We’re still in training camp. The ones that have continued to show improvement and that have maybe earned some more reps, continuing to do those types of things and to continue to take the next step, to continue to compete for a role, and then the ones have an opportunity to try to get going if maybe they haven’t put their best work out there.”
On the fact we saw Kendrick Bourne leave the field on Friday, and if he has any update on him:
“The update was just got rolled up and he won’t be out here. I wouldn’t anticipate him this week, so he’ll be working hard to get back, just like everybody else, it’s not going to be out there.”
On if he had any updates on [Christian] Gonzales and [Carlton] Davis:
“[Shakes head ‘no’,] other than I wouldn’t expect them here at practice today, and probably not against Washington on Wednesday.”
On the competition between the two kickers:
“They both have done very well. I’m sure 19 to 21 or whatever they both are. I think they’ve gotten better, and it’s a good competition. I’m glad that they both got to kick into the stadium and try to get the extra points and get the end of game kicks and everything that we did. Just trying to get the volume and try to every day, Jeremy and Tom, have a plan for them on how they’re going to kick.”
On how he likes what he’s seen from the kickoffs:
“Yeah, I think they’re working through what that looks like. You have a couple of different choices. If you want to try to put it up there high and try to get it as close to the goal line, but don’t get cute. Can’t have the ball at the 35-yard line. And then also some of these, whether they’re the low liner, whatever that may be, I think that’s where you talk about practice. We’ll have to figure out what’s best for us and decide on something.”
On understanding that everyone’s got a long way to go here in camp and if there are any positions he feels like he needs to learn more about:
“Every single one of them. I want to continue to learn about our players, about those positions, about the combinations. That’s what training camp’s for, is really just to get the players in there that can continue to improve and to compete and go from transitioning against our offense to quickly adjusting to what Washington is going to do on Wednesday.”
On the fact we haven’t seen much of Mack Hollins on the field but what he’s seen from him off the field helping younger players:
“Spent a lot of time here in the offseason, locked in, engaged. Rare for a player to be able to get that much information and not practice. That’s hard. That’s hard. Just even thinking back when I was in those opportunities to be able to do that, and still understand the details and not practicing it. So locked in, ready to go, excited to see him get out there and practice.”
On Will Campbell saying after the in-stadium practice that the message to him has been he’s either winning his reps or he’s learning and how he feels he’s doing in terms of not repeating his mistakes:
“He’s a very coachable player. He’s been out there getting better every day. A lot of versatility in his game. I’m excited about him continuing to work and continuing to improve.”
On what the off-days are like here for coaches and players:
“Players get treatment, and the ones that are out, treatment’s mandatory. Some meet with their coaches, some lift. Coaches get caught up, and we’ll talk through personnel who needs more reps, who has earned more reps, who can play different positions, and then try to get the coaches out of here, too, in a reasonable amount of time. They’ve got family. They put a lot into this as well. I think that there’s a good balance to be able to get work done, get ahead, and then I have to make sure that I’m going around and getting these people out of here. They put a lot into it.”
On the fact we saw some creative celebrations after big plays and if that’s something he encourages:
“Sure. I want to encourage celebrating touch downs. I want to encourage doing it with teammates. We don’t want to sit there and taunt the opponent. We don’t want to point the ball or the finger or whatever. Anything that’s going to cost us 15 yards. We’re certainly not good enough to give the other team 15 yards. We want to try to make sure that we’re celebrating as a team. We put a lot into it. When you go down there and plays work and guys make plays, they should be excited. To think that we should just walk off…We got to do it in a manner where we’re going to come back and kick an extra point. But whatever they decide to do, as long as it doesn’t cost us yards, I’m all for.”
On the fact Drake [Maye] has been stating his preferences with the receivers in terms of how they want to run their routes, and he fact he’s showing command/authority over the offense and if he has any examples of other moments where he’s doing it:
“Well, there’s protections. When he sees something that he can help, he sees it a lot better, I think, than some other players or a lineman. If you see something, say something. Don’t assume that everybody’s seeing it the way that you’re seeing it. That’s why they’re quarterbacks. They have a pretty good sense of what’s going on. They got a good view. Maybe it’s rotation, maybe it’s in eyes or a step or an alignment. So just being able for him to communicate that, I see him get guys in the right formations or tell guys, ‘Hey, you’re off the ball, you’re on the ball,’ or, ‘Hey, you’re over here,’ doing that quickly. As before, sometimes young quarterbacks, they’re just focused on the plate or focused on the cadence and not focused on sideline to sideline and I think that that’s starting to improve.”
“Thank you, guys.”
(Editor’s Note: This transcript is done via the available footage and is subject to typos. If you spot something, please take a moment to let me know in the comments below.)
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