TRANSCRIPT: Mike Vrabel’s Press Conference 10/6
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Here’s what New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel had to say during his press conference on Monday following their win over the Bills:
On if he has any updates on Gibson, and if he anticipates having to make a move to shore up the running back group:
“Well, no, don’t have any update yet. Got back late. Some guys are still going through some tests and some medical evaluations. Hopefully, I’ll know more early this afternoon, but we’ll keep you updated if we add anybody to the roster or we feel like we need guys at any position?”
On what he feels a win like that can do for him with his message or in terms of it resonating with his team:
“I don’t know if I look at it like that. I think that the buy-in. Again, I don’t know how you necessarily define that. Just trying to show them, I think, what they’re capable of doing when we can do it together in all three phases and then play up to our identity because it wasn’t great. I thought we played really hard. I thought we flew around on defense. I thought we tried to hammer the football out. Sometimes we did, sometimes we didn’t. They made some plays, but I thought we have, even offensively, a lot of room to grow.”
“Special teams-wise, we didn’t have the impact that we maybe were used to the previous weeks or some of the phases. So I think that we continue to show them those things and what we need to improve, the things that we do well. I do think that they are trying to uphold the style of play that we want to play with. And then it’s every week is a challenge, and then we’ll move on. And we’ll prepare to go down and play the Saints that are coming off a huge win at home. And that’s where we’re at.”
“So I’m I’m happy for the players. I’m always happy for the players. They’re the ones that go out and do it. I appreciate the coaches efforts, but we expect a good week of practice. We expected to go in and play well and give ourselves a chance to win, and that’s what we did. Again, hopefully we can build some confidence by the way that we played. We gave up a touchdown drive to start the second half, but our offense came back and answered. They went down and tied the game, and we came and made a kick and executed the time and the clock and gave them, an MVP quarterback, very little time to be able to do anything. Those are things that we had to do. So, maybe we can show them and say, ‘This is what you’re capable of. This is how we’d like to maybe do it a little bit differently.’ But I don’t question the buy-in. I think that they’re trying. We just got a lot of things we can improve on.
On how much does that help along those lines, that two-minute drill at the end by a trade to win the football game, what does that do for a kid like Drake [Maye]:
“You have to be put in those situations. I think you have to be in that situation to be able to feel it and execute it. Even the last play, the third down play, we’re trying to catch one out of there to the flat and see if we can’t get somebody to break free out there. We’ve been talking about not throwing that ball away in that particular situation. Again, not necessarily unless it was to lose yardage. He made a great decision to not lose yardage, but also keep the clock going. I think that those situationally is where he’s starting to improve. Not that those situations aren’t critical, but there’s so much that he and Josh and Ashton and the offense are doing with him to understand those first and second down operations, procedures, versus pressure and third down. And then it’s like, Okay, two minute… And by the way, we want to be a good five-minute football team. We want to because that means that we’re ahead and that we’re controlling the ball and the clock and that we’re using all the time.”
“But there are certain things that probably are a little lower on the list of priorities. There’s a lot more first and second, third down snaps than there are five-minute snaps, not to make those less important, but we’re practicing in them, and we’re showing him, and he’s understanding. And so that was good because when you get into that situation, you’re pretty much in a… It’s two-minute, but it’s really five minutes. You’re trying to take care of the clock to the best of your advantage. So there’s a lot of things that we can coach from and hopefully have some confidence with.”
On the decision at the end of the half to kick the field goal:
“I know. I just didn’t want to do all that and not come out of there with points. The way that the first half had gone, I felt like, and not to look at the other side of the coin, but to come out of there tied, I just felt like at least we could say we were winning the first half and that we were in a position to do some things. That may change next week or the following week. Just felt like at that point, how it was going, just wanted to make sure we came out of there with points and a good feeling going into half.”
On if he has a plan for those types of situations of what he wants to do in a game like that one, and if he and his staff say, ‘Hey, we might have to be aggressive to go for a six,’ But then did it change just based on the flow of the game:
“I think at that point in time, it did. We planned on trying to be aggressive and not reckless. Those are conversations that Stretch and I have that we communicate to Josh and to everybody else. Certain times throughout the game where it’s third and eight. If we get it close enough that it’s four down, we try to tell them that. If we don’t get any yards or lose yards, then we make a decision to punt. I think that the communication there is going well, trying to be one play ahead. But to Stefon’s credit, we’re trying to coach that when the guy is not playing the football, go back and create contact, show the official that you’re making an attempt to go back to the ball, and go through the defender when he’s not playing the ball. So I would have liked to reward him with a touchdown. Wasn’t able to do that. But I think that there’s games where you certainly want to be…you feel like you need to be aggressive, especially a team that’s averaging close to 34 points a game.”
On when he had the chance to either watch it back or even in real-time, what did he see on the pass from Drake Maye to Diggs where he was half falling over as he got the ball out and what did he see on that play:
“Oh, my gosh. We made it. It was an eight-yard loss to a twelve-yard gain. He’s continuing to grow and gain confidence and show us and show everybody and show his team and himself, the ability to operate in the pocket, ability to operate in scheduled move the pocket plays, and then also off schedule. So putting the ball in good locations and not throwing behind guys and going on the move and putting the ball in harm’s way.”
On the fact they’re 2-0 on the road and if there’s anything in particular he’s liked about the road games:
“I thought we had a good week of practice. I think that they were really focused on what the environment would be and what that would look like, and how we would have to operate and function. I thought that was really important for a lot of young players that maybe haven’t been in a game of that magnitude. It was good to see them respond and operate. We had the one, I guess, false start on the short yardage. That was disappointing, how close that was. I mean, that’s how they call it, some of these guys. Hunter’s line of scrimmage penalty is frustrating. Looking over an official that’s 15 yards away, and I’ll have to try to get some clarification on that and how we’re going to do this going forward. But proud of the guys and the way they competed.”
On what Phil [Perry] was saying, him instilling a belief in identity and everything else, and how much did they show him in a game like last night:
“I was very comfortable going into the game. I was very comfortable. I felt like they practiced, that they were in a good place. There’ll be things that we’ll have to coach, and we’ll move on, and we’ll have to get going here with the Saints. Can you keep doing it? Can you add the consistency to preparation as this thing starts to wear on and your body starts to feel less than ideal? This is a long haul here. We’re just past the quarter pole here, and we got a long way to go.”
On where does his patience come from and his ability to look at guys and be like, ‘All right, you fumbled?’ Or, ‘All right, missed an extra point, but I believe in you. Let’s get the next one.’
“I think anybody that knows me knows I have a great deal of patience. [Smiles] We need everybody. Everybody’s role is vitally important, but also we got to protect the identity, and part of that identity is the ball. But we also believe in treating people the way they treat the team, what kind of teammate they are, how they prepare for their job, the things that they’re willing to do to help the team. And in your particular question, I think Ramondre [Stevenson] is an excellent protector of the other people with the ball, whether that’s in blitz pickup or chasing the ball and being around it and doing all those little things. So I think it’s just a fine line of making decisions, and all our backs are going to play. They’re all going to contribute just the same way as the ball finds different guys when Drake throws it. We’ll need everybody throughout this season.”
On when Antonio Gibson was injured in that second half, it seemed like a TreVeyon was getting a few more opportunities, and what did he see from him, and how has he seen him grow:
“I think he’s just continuing to see things out there in a different run scheme, so under center, in the gun. We’ve tried to find him. We’ll have some more stuff for him and everybody else that can help us. I like to have him get going on a kickoff return. We were close to one block away on three different kickoff returns, and so there’s a lot of ways for us to get all those guys involved.
On his pass-blocking being something he’s struggled with throughout the first few games and if there’s anything he’s done in practice to [improve it]:
“We practice it. You have to practice it. Again, we believe in TreVeyon. We’ve seen him protect a bunch in college, and identifying who to block, and then go in to close the distance, and coming to balance, and not catching, and all those things that are important. We’ll give him the tools, and we’ll practice with him, and he’s willing and I’m confident that that will continue to improve.
On how great it is to have his dad as a resource:
“Well, it was good to have him there. They’ve always made trips to Buffalo from northeast Ohio. A lot of stuff running through my head, and he was quick to point out, just like you guys were, a lot of young players that played in that football game and in that environment and have a… Rookies on the left side of the line, and then a running back, and playing a young rookie kicker, and all those things in those pressure moments to be able to execute was a good reminder.”
(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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