TRANSCRIPT: Mike Vrabel Postgame Press Conference 12/28

Here’s what New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel had to say following the Patriots’ 42-10 win over the Jets on Sunday:

On his thoughts about the fact his team is 8-0 on the road this season:

“It was a tough one, the first one, just going all the way back to Miami, and I think that that was just a really important game for us. Being able to battle and give up a punt return, answer with a kickoff return, I mean, going all the way back and just … big kick from Andy. We’ve talked about all those things that have helped us along the way and talked about just unfinished business on the road and being able to, when we needed to, handle the environment and make critical plays and get off to a good start like we did today. Really proud of this football team and what they’ve been able to do. Anytime you travel, it’s difficult.”

On the fact they were able to come up with precision on both sides of the football early:

“I think hopefully we can continue to improve as the season goes on. We’re pretty far into it, but being able to still practice and focus on details and coach actions and not results and try to be able to translate the things that we do well in practice when they show up in the games or vice versa, or maybe things that we weren’t really good at practice that maybe we weren’t really good at in the game, and we can continue to coach those things. But really focused on trying to improve late in the year. I’m just happy that everybody was able to play. We did get a lot of really good efforts early on in the precision and complementary football, and all the great things that we need.”

On what it says about his team dealing with the amount of injuries that they are, that you were able to win:

“I think from the get-go, we’ve tried to focus on having everybody that’s here prepare as a starter, coach them the same, make sure that everybody knows that when you come in there in the meeting room during the week, that at any point in time, up until Saturday or before four o’clock, that you could be elevated or signed. We didn’t really have to do that much during the beginning part of the season. Then all of a sudden, our depth got tested. I think it was really important for this week for guys to step up. What Josh [McDaniels] and the offensive staff were able to do with managing guys and different personnel groups and using everybody was really good. What Zak [Kuhr] and the defense has been able to do with some guys out, and then obviously what Jeremy [Springer] and Tom [Quinn] are able to do with all the moving parts on special teams. I appreciate every single one of those coaches that help us, help our players get ready for the games.”

On when he describes that adjustment, what traits does that highlight for him, and if it’s the toughness, the flexibility, the versatility:

“Well, I think you have to be all those. You have to be able to adapt and be able to adjust. The players that can play more than one position, we have to be able to ask them to do that. Preparation, just understanding that some of these guys are practicing the entire year and don’t get a chance to play. Then you want to be able to reward them when the opportunity presents itself. There’ll be some guys that took advantage of their opportunities, and hopefully that’ll lead to more opportunities for them.”

On when he can process that Drake [Maye] threw five touchdown passes, to five different players, if he feels like he’s watching the MVP of the League today:

“Well, I certainly, they don’t give me a vote, but there’s nobody else that we want as our quarterback or that I want as our quarterback. To be able to do that and as the plays go through the progression, somebody asked me this week about progression and different things. I said, ‘Just throw to the guy that’s open. As soon as you work through your progression,’ and I think he did that and some really good designs, but also some great execution.”

On what it says about Drake’s performance and what he was able to do with a depleted offensive line and depleted wide receiver core:

“I mean, all those guys have played. The wide receiver core, I mean, Chiz has been catching touchdowns on us on Fridays the entire year. So it was good that he got one in the game because he’s caught plenty of them on Fridays. Ben [Brown] did a great job. Vederian [Lowe] did a great job. Those guys have been in there, and Vederian has been in there for the last couple of weeks, and Ben’s ready to take advantage of his opportunity as always. Got a great effort from our veteran guys, from Diggsy [Stefon Diggs] and certainly the offensive line.”

On the fact they’ve made borderline great plays. Hunter [Henry], at the three, fought and caught it, then [Stefon] Diggs makes that play, obviously taking the ball and keeps his feet in, but not only those players, those guys were consistent all game, and it’s been really emblematic of the whole year, both of them:

“We say this all the time, that your best players have to play good in order for you to win. I would consider Hunter and Stefon, some of our better players. That’s kind of what you get. That’s the National Football League, and they know that we need their best efforts each and every week. That’s what we got.”

On the two-minute drive, and his thought process changing before the half after the rough and the passer penalty:

“Yeah, probably. Just trying to get… Being smart with the football and get the first first down and get into the drive. Then that created a good enough field position to keep going. I thought they did a really good job of going down there with the time, and the timeouts, and the moving parts. Once you get in a two-minute and you only have a couple of receivers, you kind of get creative. We had two backs in there at times. We had two tight ends in there at times. So I thought that was really good.”

On what went into the decision to call a timeout at the end of the first half:

“I’m trying to think and work the game, regardless of what the score was, but forcing them to run another player or do something. They don’t carry over to the second half. So defensively, we hadn’t had a whole lot of opportunities to play. I know those guys want to rush. They want to play defense. And so I called it and it really didn’t affect the game.”

On the fact it looks like he had to talk to Christian Barmore coming off the field heading into halftime and what happened there:

“I just reminded everybody to keep their composure. We have an identity that we’ve shown and that we’ve put out there on the football field and make great decisions for the football team. We don’t want to give people free yards. That was it. Just a reminder. Christian, they did a great job. I mean, the referee came over there and told me that both him and Corey Durden and everybody else were doing a good job of trying not to get in anything after the whistle and after the play. I appreciate that. It was just a reminder, Nicole [Yang].”

On the fact that obviously, this time of year, football becomes a game of attrition and how important it was to get some reps for the guys that were able to play today, especially in the second half, some guys that may have to play for you down the stretch:

“Everybody’s going to have to play. We’re going to need everybody’s best effort and preparation and execution. I think the more that you can get them into the game, and whether it’s two minutes, some on the ball, and guys that really haven’t had that, but they practice all year, they work extremely hard. I’m excited to see them to be able to go out there and make some plays that helped us win and be excited. That’s the most important thing, that we’re just excited to get a stop there at the end of the game, the guys that are in there, because they put a lot of time into, and they deserve our best.”

On how tough it was this week to see Mack [Hollins] go on IR this week, but also to see Efton [Chism] step up, get his first catch, first touchdown:

“Matt means a lot to this football team. His personality, his spirit, I’ve talked about that a bunch. He wanted to travel with us and be here and support. I know that he’s happy for Chiz just because those two have been really close since the time that Chiz got here. I think it’s been fun mentorship, and we’ll need that from Mack. We’ll need him to make contributions off the field as we move forward.”

(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.)

About Ian Logue

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.

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