TRANSCRIPT: Mike Vrabel Weekly Interview on WEEI 9/15
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Here’s what New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel had to say during his appearance on “The Greg Hill Show” on WEEI on Monday, September 15, 2025:
Congratulations on win number one.
“Thank you. Appreciate it.”
It looked like you basically did a 40 down the sideline. What would you guess your time was?
“5.8. That headset’s a lot heavier than you think.”
Those hamsters ain’t built like they used to be. Be careful.
“I had an [inaudible] with parking this morning.”
I saw Steph Diggs say that you were slow. It’s built for the long haul. All you need as a pass rusher, is a get off. You don’t need like, four yards…
Only need six, seven, eight yards, max.
Well, big win. I saw you say last night, the most important takeaway for you was that this team is not front running. I’m interested in what you saw from Drake [Maye] yesterday.
“Well, I mean, again, to touch on your point, that’s how some of these games go. We’d love to be up 30-3. And if they are, then we’ll plan accordingly and we’ll be okay. But you get into these back and forths, and you have to just believe that you’re going to make enough plays in the end to win. I felt like we did that. That was good to see. I think we needed to see it. Our players needed to see it and feel it and be in there and say, ‘Hey, we could have a couple of bad plays. Somebody’s going to make a play,’ which we did numerous times. So we answered back. Drake was very efficient. Something that we’ve talked about for a long time is just putting the ball where you’re supposed to put it, where it needs to go, based on their coverage and our scheme. But he did that. I thought he transferred into the pocket well. Being on the silent count. Good edge rushers, guys with good get off. I thought we blocked the gains. There was a lot of keys that we had, not a lot, but a couple of keys in all three phases, and I felt like we hit those for the most part.”
Mike, we all look at those elite playmakers on offense, but this is another week where your defensive front seven are able to affect the game and get after the quarterback. You lead the league in sacks, and granted, it’s only two weeks, but you’ve consistently shown, especially in crucial situations, you can make it uncomfortable. How much of a major factor is that for just your football team in general when you have that capability at the end of the games?
“Yeah, and they were going hard, and it was hot. It was hot. That was real yesterday, and I appreciated everybody’s efforts in the game, and everybody that played or everybody that dressed, contributed. That was great to see. To be able to continue to, I guess, affect the quarterback and get him to a second read, trying to tie the coverage in. The X plays are something that we’ll have to continue to focus on. But when we had to, I felt like we got the drive stopped. That was either after a drive of theirs that we forced him to kick a field goal, or we were able to get the drive stopped before a field goal.”
Leading up to this game, when it comes to your defense, though, how important was it for the guys to show up for each other and for the team in the absence of Terrell [Williams]? For you, did you feel like they did that for him?
“No, I hope that they didn’t. I hope they did it for each other. I don’t think that Terrell would want that either. I think that they are beginning to understand each other and how everything works. Each week is a new challenge. I hope that they did that for them, and that they played hard for them, and that they were selfless for each other. I think that’s the whole goal.”
But did you feel like the preparation, they were able to achieve exactly what Tarell would want them to achieve going into that?
“Yeah, I think that that’s always the case. I think that there was understanding and practice, there was communication, there was an energy to work and understand how to prepare for this football team, and the motions and everything that goes into it. It’s a good test. It is a very good test to be able to handle all that.”
Mike, the pass from Drake Maye to Ramondre Stevenson third and three, a minute fifty in the third quarter. To me, was the play of the game. Perfect throw, right in stride. What were your thoughts on that and its meaning to the win?
“Well, oddly enough, we had a similar play this week in practice, but it was with TreVeyon, and we had two brutal plays to start the day. I said, ‘Fellas, we had this whole mentality of just, F it and let’s move on. We have to get going, and it takes one play.’ It was TreVeyon on that exact route that hit that play in practice, and then everybody started getting all juiced up. It was really weird that now it was the same play, but Ramondre, and we hit it, and it lifted our spirits, and it got us going again. It’s just a good reminder of things that how we want to practice is similar to how we want to play. We can’t let negative plays snowball on us.”
Another week, though, on the negative side, especially with the penalties. What’s going on there?
“We had false starts. You know what I mean? Again, we don’t want penalties, but I’ve gone down this road before. Penalties are probably a bad predictor for win rate. I’d focus on quarterback rating, turnovers, and rushing margin and we won all three of those. I would say that the easy thing to say, because I’ve lived this world, is when I was first starting in Tennessee, I was the penalty Nazi. Then I did a lot of research, and I’m like, ‘Unfortunately, it looks like it’s 50/50.’ Whoever has more penalties … there’s critical penalties, and we want to make great decisions. We don’t ever want to do things that cost the team. We’ll address those. We’ll address it. We had some false starts. One, Will [Campbell] didn’t move. Will pointed at the guy. Will pointed at the guy that’s rushing, and they called false start. You know what I mean? Again, I’m not going to go through the crew and the guy that’s it’s his first year, they made some good calls. I’m sure they’re ones that they’d like to have back. We tell them going in, this crew, ‘Dana over there, he calls a line of scrimmage tight.’ If he thinks that KC lined up in the neutral zone and he’s not going to warn him, and he’s just going to go throw the flag. I guarantee next week, all around the league, there’s guys that are three inches in the neutral zone, and they tell him the next play, ‘Hey, back up, or I’m going to flag you.’ But that’s how this goes.”
I feel like you should have got the challenge. I’m on Stretch’s [John Streicher’s] side on that:
“Tough day, I guess. We know how this thing goes. It goes to New York, and there’s one guy looking at three games, and there’s one guy looking at another three games, and they could tell us what they want. But for it to be expedited was shocking. For that to be expedited. I’m okay losing a challenge, but give me the courtesy of taking a look at it in a two-minute window.”
But the ball moved in his hands.
“It didn’t survive the ground. We know what the rule is. He’s going to the ground. It wasn’t like he had made a third step and completed it, and it came off his body. It came loose. So we’ll keep swinging. We have a good feel for how these things go and replay, but again, judgment.”
After the game, you said to Andres [Borregales] that you had all the confidence in the world for him making that last kick. Do you guys have a kicking problem right now, or do you feel confident in him?
“How many times do you want me to answer it? I answered it yesterday. He missed two extra points and then made the rest of them. If I didn’t feel confident, I wouldn’t have put him out there for a 53-yarder. So it was good to see. And he threw me off by Andres. I haven’t called him Andres since the day that we drafted him. I’m like, ‘Andre. Andre. Did we sign somebody? I didn’t even know?'”
I like to use his first name.
“No, they call him Andy.”
Mike, take us into the thought process of throwing a pass, I think it might have been on second down towards the end of the game, which was an incomplete, which allows Miami to keep a timeout in the pocket. What’s the mindset going there? Are you thinking just run, run, let them burn their timeouts?
“Well, you need a first down to try to win the game. I thought we could catch them in, falling asleep there on the crossing route. Unfortunately, we didn’t, and that’s how it goes. But we’re going to need a first down to win the game there and didn’t get it.”
Mike, clearly, you were uncomfortable after the game when Robert Kraft came in and was giving you the game ball, you clearly wanted to deflect immediately and talk about the players. But you’re in pretty rarefied air, a guy that played for a team and now coaching for the team. Anything that you want to share about what your first feelings were getting your win first time as the head coach of this team.
“And I appreciate that, but this is about the players. This is about them being confident in what we’re doing, them believing in what we’re doing, them believing in each other, feeling like they have the preparation, feeling like they have developed some sort of skills that they can go use in the game and be successful. I promise you. And maybe that’s just having been a player and had success on a team, and I want the players to be able to experience that. I promise you, I’m good. I do this outside of winning is to see guys develop and have personal success, and that they can help themselves and they can help the team.”
I’ll take the ball if you don’t want it.
“No, I’ll keep it. I mean, it won’t be like the Super Bowl balls that I had, and I would go home, and the kids were little, and it would be snowing in Columbus, and I’d look out, and there’d be like the Super Bowl touchdown catch on the outside, just diving into snowpiles.”
Gotta lock those things up.
“Go ahead, guys. Have at it.”
Third and goal in the second, you call a timeout. What did you say to Drake Maye there?
“‘Let’s just get things tightened up here. Let’s make sure that everybody’s getting a call that we’re being efficient. I know it’s tired and we’re subbing. They’re tired, too. However, we feel that they feel.’ It was just, ‘Let’s settle everybody down. Let’s take control of the huddle. Let’s make sure everybody gets a call and that we’re lined up and that we can execute here.'”
Mike, you talked about the penalties and how some people might overreact, and every coach is different on what they look at. When you look at your success with getting sacks, you guys are doing a good job, but you’re also giving up a lot explosive plays, especially in the passing game. Is that something that you start to factor in? ‘Like, all right, we got to limit these,’ or is this the thing that’s going to happen in a game?
“No, there’s going to be a few, and I think maybe… our whole intention was to defend inside the numbers and make sure that that was not where it was hurting us. We did okay there. Then obviously, they felt comfortable throwing those outward-breaking routes. Not that I’m accepting of it, but we have to be able to say this is what the game plan was. I think that there are some plays that we certainly need to correct. We can’t have the ball thrown over our heads on third and 15, and Tyreek Hill just blazing out of there. Those are concerns. But the other ones, some of them are on us and how we wanted to play the football game, making sure that we were defending the middle of the field where they’ve had so much success.”
With the penalties, Morgan Moses had said that he… Will Campbell came up to him after and said, ‘Don’t worry about it. It happens.’ I guess Morgan had said that to him last week on the sideline, do you feel like Will Campbell is turning into the leader that you want him to?
“I think that he shows up every single day, and I think he does his job, and he cares extremely about this football team. I think that that’s starting to make him a leader. I think he’s prepared. I think he executes for the most part in the game. He knows what to do. So, I think that that makes him a leader. And hopefully this trend of these linemen false-starting and then patting each other on the back after the game can end. We only have three more linemen to go, so we’re 40% of the way done here with… ‘You know, it happens. Don’t worry, it happened.’ Hopefully, three more weeks, we’re done with this.”
Mike, you have the Steelers this weekend. Tom braided said this offseason that at his peak, Aaron Rodgers is the best thrower of the football he’s ever seen. Talk about what you see from Aaron Rodgers, and would you agree with Tom’s assessment there?
“Tom knows more about quarterbacks than I do. I just know that it’s going to be a physical football team. They’re always good defensively. Aaron provides a lot of challenge just from his operation, his mechanics, the urgency in which he’s able to command the offense. It puts a lot of stress on you. So stuff that Arthur Smith has done in the past, there’ll also be things, plenty of things that Aaron has that he’ll take advantage of bad football if you’re not ready.”
It’s interesting that you bring that up because you have such a great relationship with Arthur Smith, who was on your staff at one point in time. Does it give you an advantage that you know a guy, or is it a disadvantage? Because even though you know him, he knows you as well when it comes to putting a scheme together.
“Yeah. I think that they’ll have their game plan plays. I haven’t watched too much of them. Just getting here started, get going on them here as soon as we finish with you guys. But Arthur will have his core concepts and what he believes, and then Aaron will have his things that he’s always liked and that he’s wanted to do. So we have to see where that blend is.”
Difficult week in this country. Did you address that at all with the team?
No, I didn’t. I did not talk about the things that have gone on here this past week.”
When we talk about leadership, I know Courtney was talking about Will Campbell, but one guy that I really think does a tremendous job, and I’ve always liked the way he played since his time at Boston College is Harold Landry. Talk a little bit about what he brings to the team and what he brings to the defense when it comes to leadership.
“A very consistent player. I think he has a very consistent routine. I’ve known Harold for a long time. I’m excited that the players voted him captain. This is his first time being a captain. He has shown that when he got here, that was important to him was to lead. He’s always a versatile player. We put a lot on his plate. Anything that is a game plan-specific type thing for that position, we have a tendency to put it on Harold because he’ll understand. He’ll be able to get it quickly in a few days of practice. We’re going to need him and everybody else to continue to play well and try to help us and get some consistency going.”
It seemed like Drake was being himself, not tentative or outside the pocket. It seemed like in week one, he was very hesitant, sliding outside the pocket, not running down in the field. Was there any change in the communication you had between week one and week two? And what did you see from Drake in terms of composure yesterday?
“Well, I meant sliding. I think he slid in week one because they got to him quicker. I don’t think he was going to slide because we told him just to go a yard and slide. That’s not what we want. We want him to be as aggressive as possible and make sure that he takes care of himself, which he did yesterday. Maybe he just was running faster yesterday.”
I think we talk about it from the outside, knowing nothing about what’s going on. It just appeared from the outside week one that maybe he was being overly cautious when making the decision to run the football. Good to hear you say that that’s not-
“No, I don’t think that’s ever the case. That’s if it’s progressed through, and you can only make so many progressions based on the pass rush, I wouldn’t get to the third read. Sometimes, again, that’s based on how the protection is and just being decisive. We don’t want our players to ever have to second guess what they want to do. Be decisive and aggressive at the line of scrimage. Blocked pressure, block movement. They pressured a lot. They moved. We were able to do that, covered them up, had some good runs, cool to be able to run the two-point conversion in. Most of our guys are in the end zone scoring with their guys, and if they score with their man, then we’re obviously going to score. Those are some cool things to be able to show our guys.”
I know you said last week that Christian Gonzales continues to improve. Is there a chance that we could see him going into this week?
“There’s a chance.”
A good one?
“Courtney got a big ring. She’s got a rich husband.”
She does have a pretty big ring there.
It’s pretty big.
“What’s he do, Courtney?”
He does commercial real estate.
“Wow. High rises and all that stuff?”
He’s actually a St. John’s prep guy.
“I mean, it was like, That thing is blinding me…”
So a good chance? So a good chance for Christian?
“There’s a chance. I get to ask questions too.”
I’m sweating …
I don’t think you said anything this morning that they’ll be all over you about all week.
“I knew that was coming. It was free publicity for you guys.”
It was great. Could you mention my name when you’re doing it?
“I promise you, you’ll be the fourth name that I mention. Free publicity.”
I couldn’t tell if it was the 6: 30 start time or the actual segment that you were grossing about a little bit there.
“It was just the fact that anything I say can and will be used against me in a court of law.”
“Thanks, guys.”
(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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