Here’s what Mike Vrabel had to say following the New England Patriots’ 48-18 win over the Commanders on Friday night:
On the debut of TreVeyon Henderson, including the kickoff return for a touchdown at the start of the game:
“I think that was one of the phases that we talked that was going to be so critical, and it’s hard to really rep full speed. We got a few of them against Washington, and I think we saw some things that we could improve on, and that’s exactly what we did. I think TreVeyon read it out and hit the hole, and everybody else blocked and finished and did all those good things. So, it’s a step in the right direction. I think it’s exciting anytime that you can … you know, we talk about how critical a phase of the game is going to be and to come out here and be able to work on it.”
On Efton Chism and what he saw from him that stood out:
” I think his play strength stood out to me, just from the sideline. I think just the way that he blocks and his ability to catch the ball in traffic. The ball was basically tipped or bobbled coming out of Ben’s hand and ran through a tackle and ran through contact, and then we threw him the screen. So, those are all positive things. I think his play strength to me is what stood out.”
On Drake Maye’s performance and the fact Drake Maye’s turnover probably annoyed him:
“Are you asking and answering your question at the same time? Is that what you’re doing?”
I got you. Your thoughts?
“I would say you about summed it up. That’s a bad decision. I think we’re going to need better from him, and I think he knows that, and that’s obvious. So it wasn’t there, and we just have to be able to find a way to get rid of football or take a sack, and punt, and play defense. But to the defense’s credit, they forced a field goal, I think that was missed maybe, but they got a couple… It was a sudden change opportunity.”
On DJ James continuing to have a good preseason and his impression of him and the interception tonight and the work he continues to do:
“I think that it’s always exciting to see players that take advantage of opportunities and since D.J. was one of the players that was here for rookie minicamp, I would say that since that day, and that weekend, he’s continued to improve, and I think he’s taking advantage of that. I’m always for players that get better, take coaching. It’s on them, obviously, to improve. That’s all to D.J.’s credit. And so I’m excited for him that he can put it into work and then start to see it translate onto the field.”
On how important it was to be there for Tom Brady’s ceremony, and what it was like to quickly get back into game mode:
“I think it made it a little easier just because it’s a preseason game and there’s maybe probably not as much going on. I mean, there’s still the schedule and everything and meeting with the officials and the team and the coaches. But, I mean, it was always important for me to be out there. I thought you saw the amount of people that were there to support him, people on the Commander’s side, former teammates. Just having somebody like that be a part of this organization, pretty unique, pretty special. So glad that I was able to be a part of it for a little bit.”
On Will Campbell and Jared Wilson and his thoughts on how they did on the left side tonight:
“I think the play demeanor showed, and I think that there was a game maybe that, a pass rush game, it looked like to me, and those are something that we’ll continue to work hard on. We were able to pick them up in the practice. They ran a few of them over there against us in practice. We just have to be able to carry that execution into the game. But I certainly did see their play demeanor kind of stand out, and I think that that’s a good place to start is with that and being downfield and finishing through the whistle and everything that we embrace here.”
On Ja’Lynn Polk leaving for the locker room after the carry and if there’s an update on him:
“No, no update right now. He’ll get more testing and see our doctors, and wasn’t able to finish the game.”
On the fact they want to establish consistency in preseason and how important it was that they only had two penalties for 15 yards:
“Well, we had a couple that were really offsetting, so we still fouled them. It wasn’t like we were really clean. I thought operationally, we were pretty good. Felt like everybody was on the same page in substitution and getting in and out of the huddle. And they don’t huddle. They sub, and sometimes they stand over it, and sometimes they don’t. So, I felt like defensively, that was a good challenge for us to be able to play a game like that with a team that really doesn’t want to huddle. But when you could have that many… We had a few kickoff returns and did not have any penalties there. We had the one that was offsetting on the punt. Those are critical because there’s so much field position that gets changed when you have penalties on punt returns and kickoff returns. So it’s a good start. It’s a good start for everything that we were talking about. It will give us some where to coach. We have to tackle better, and we’ll have to to grow the football better going forward. But I thought that this was a good place to start.”
On the fact Javon Baker made a couple of special teams tackles and if it’s good to see someone who’s trying to contribute in more than one phase in order to make the team:
“Yeah, I think that that’s fantastic. When you have players, and especially receivers, that can create a role and they can help you and they can be big and physical and everything that we see out of Javon as a receiver, when you can embrace that, and they can embrace that as special teams players, guys that are big and physical and fast and willing, that translates to special teams. So excited and just happy for Javon, just being able to go out there and contribute. And when you do those things, your teammates get excited, and hopefully, his confidence continues to grow.”
On the fact he said he felt the passing game could improve, and what he felt contributed to that, whether it was separation:
“I mean, I think the way that the game unfolded with the kickoff and going for a touchdown and defensive turnover. I felt like we had some opportunities. Maybe the ball was batted. I thought we had C.J. for a countdown there. He was open. Then just the protection, I guess, on the third down… It wasn’t like we had a whole lot of opportunities early. We were able to kind of convert and score running the football. Then, Drake scrambled. Again, I’m all for him using his ability to run when it’s there, and you saw him slide, and then you saw him be able to run into the end zone. Maybe just kind of how the game unfolded early. We hit some passes late. I think Ben settled down. I was excited to see him settle down and hit some passes. John Giles, who busts his tail to block and play special teams, and had a huge catch there. And felt everybody played, which I’m excited for. We talked about there were some players that didn’t get to play on Wednesday or practice, and that they were going to get an opportunity on Friday night. And I was happy to see them take advantage of it and proud that they could be excited about it.”
(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.)
Support Us: Help Us Compete Against The Corporate Media Giants
We need your help. If you enjoy our content, please help us beat Google's Corporate algorithm by adding us as a preferred source on Google News.
Click the button below and check the box next to "PatsFans.com"
Add as a preferred source on Google News
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.
