TRANSCRIPT: Mike Vrabel Press Conference 1/12
Follow us
Follow Us
🕑 Read Time: 9 minutes
Posted Under: Patriots Transcripts
HOME > Patriots Blog > Patriots Transcripts
Here’s what New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel had to say during his press conference on Monday January 12, 2026 with reporters:
On when it comes to your next opponent, where do you start work on both teams tonight:
“Again, there’s two things here that we’re working on today. We have to be able to identify some things that we can reasonably try to correct and enhance. And then the other one is looking, trying to prepare for an opponent that we won’t know who it is until tonight. So we’ll have to do work on both teams, and we’ll have to be ready to go. And that’s just how it is.
On the fact [Milton] Williams is one of the few players signed this offseason where he didn’t really have a history of coaching him on the staff, and his thoughts on his leadership, toughness, things that he’s seen from him behind the scenes?
“Yeah, we did a lot of work on Milt coming out, and like a lot of teams. But I would say that everything that we thought of him coming out is exactly what we saw in Philadelphia and then saw here. I think his consistency has been really good, his leadership, and certainly has come up in big moments.”
On how much he knew about K’Lavon Chaisson before this year and how impressed he’s been with his contributions:
“Again, probably did some work on him coming out. Went through a process there in the offseason. KC’s one of those players who have been in a couple of different places and was trying to make the best decision for him and his family and his career, which I can appreciate. So we went back and forth, and there were talks and conversations. I was glad that he was willing to join us. Glad he’s had success, and he has done a great job. We’ll need all those efforts moving forward, but he’s into it. He’s here a lot and fought through the bumps and the bruises of an NFL season. So again, all credit goes to him. But I think that wasn’t something that was just submitted on one day. I mean, it was in some conversations as we worked through free agency and what his plans were and what the vision that we had for him.”
On the fact there’s been a lot of talk about strength of schedule and what last night means for the team:
“It means we get to keep playing, Soph [Sophie Weller], that’s what that means. It means we’re not on vacation.”
On how important timing getting reps together for those guys up front for them defensively when they’re running those three-man games, if they get this strip stack yesterday, and if those guys need a lot of reps together for those things to work:
“Well, I just think that there’s a lot of… The more that you can work with the guy next to you, I think, the better. Sometimes you’re getting a different look based on their protection, or do they jump you? Do they soft set? Are they sliding? Whatever it may be. The more that you can get a look at those things and be able to work with the guy next to you, how the guy’s setting it up, how your guy is blocking you, and your ability to get where you need to get to. The more reps that we can get at any type of combination with more than one player is important. Whether that’s a route concept with two guys or pass rush games or offensive line or blocking. I think any time that you’re dealing with two players that have a responsibility or more players, the more reps, the better.”
On the fact he had a few guys last night came back after kind of an extended period, Robert [Spillane], and how did he look? How did he hold up?
“Yeah, I thought he held up okay. I think that there’s going to be some plays that he’s going to want to improve on and game conditioning and all those things and emotion. But we got great efforts from everybody. Robert and Harold [Landry], who hadn’t been out there, helped us win. They were all part of his victory.”
On the fact a lot of their downfield success in the passing game came from some heavier groupings, and what were the Chargers doing that maybe made it tougher to get downfield with their lighter personnel? And what were the advantages that he saw in some of those base packages:
“Well, they rush, and they’ve got a good front. And the further you want to throw the ball downfield, the longer that you have to protect him. I think they play certainly a very good pass defense in different shells, and whether they’re man or post-safety, and they’re pushing somebody back out there. Again, I think that being able to mix up the personnel groups is something that we’ve tried to do, that other teams try to do, no different than the Chargers. And early on, going in 22 personnel and trying to get a play-action pass out of there and trying to get some route to [Oronde] Gadsden or something. So, being able to mix personnel and staying balanced out of each personnel, I think, is critical.”
On if he can talk about the growth of Andy Borregales from what he dealt with in training camp and adversity a little bit during the year, and the fact that he’s been automatic a lot of times where when you’re not talking about a kicker, he’s doing his job:
“Yeah. I think that, first of all, his demeanor, I think, has been great. It’s been consistent. Just keep kicking and keep learning and practicing and kicking in the elements and kicking on a different side. It doesn’t really seem that things affect him. So again, all the credit to Andy for remaining consistent mentally and has made some big kicks for us. I’m sure that that’s helped his confidence.”
On if there were any thoughts on a two-point conversion after Hunter [Henry]’s touchdown:
“Yeah, obviously some thoughts there. And then just thinking that maybe we’d get a couple more possessions where the field goal could probably get us to eight, but could easily have done that. And proud of our guys, really. The sudden change all night and situational football was really good.”
On the fact he was here for a lot of big games in the past, and it was the first playoff game in six years here last nigh,t and what he thought of the atmosphere:
“I thought it was amazing. I think it starts with our willingness to play to a style that our fans appreciate. We’ve talked about that since as long as I can remember, that if we play to a certain style, they’ll embrace that and they’ll cheer for us. I think that what we do here from the stadium perspective and the introductions and the fireworks, that’s all part of it. We’re in the entertainment business, and we have to provide things for people to get excited about. So I appreciate the way that our fans have been here, and I appreciate the way that they’ve traveled, and I can’t say enough about them.”
On the fact the fans just telling us out in the parking lot that they just love the personality of this team and if he can you describe the personality and does it play a role in the winning:
“We try to embrace what we do, where we do it, and who we do it with, and we try to enjoy all those things as well. So I want them to enjoy coming to work. I want them to embrace the hard work and all the effort that goes into it. Then I want them to enjoy playing together, playing with a style, and having their own personalities.”
On Christian Gonzalez being in concussion protocol, and what did he think of his performance before he left the game?
“Well, Christian, I mean, Gonzo continues to play at a high level. Those are the expectations that he has for himself and that we have for him. I would say that he would be in the protocol. How long that lasts? I don’t know. But when you don’t return to the game, when they won’t let you go back in the game, that would put him in the protocol. So wherever that goes, that goes. But we appreciate what he’s done and his willingness to line up different places. That’s not quite as easy as ‘We’ve been through this,’ but different coverages and locations and motions and things like that. So he’s handled that all really well, and hopefully we’ll get him back.”
On K’Lavon Chaisson, he’s a first-round pick years ago, this is his best season of production, and what has he done to unlock himself, and what have they done to get the talent that he was known for to work for this team:
“Everybody has a different journey to this career in the NFL. I think he’s worked really hard. I think he plays hard. I think his motor runs hot. I think he has a good get-off and multiple moves. I think Smitty [Mike Smith] has worked hard with that entire group. I go back to training camp and KC’s willingness to play special teams and to play on the punt team for us and play a lot of snaps when guys were banged up. Then he got banged up, and he didn’t ask to be taken off the punt team. Glad that we found guys that can help him on that unit. But he’s in every one of the meetings. He’s taking reps in practice. He’s ready to go on that unit. I think that’s probably been the thing that’s impressed me the most, was his willingness to be a part the special teams and what we’re doing on fourth down and how important that is.”
On how he felt about the run/pass split, and the fact they felt like Rhamondre [Stevenson] was running it, he did look pretty effective but only finished with 10 carries:
“We’ll evaluate that and kind of see where it is. I think that there was… I don’t know. Again, we were able to stay balanced. Some of those check downs, I felt like were part of the idea, these guys are going to take some of this stuff away. I give Drake credit. We get one tip there, trying to get it to a back that gets intercepted. We come back the very next drive, we’re on the two-yard line, and he’s throwing that thing from his end zone, and they don’t cover the back. They blitz, don’t cover the back, don’t cover Rhamondre. So, to me, that’s like a long handoff. That was a huge play in the game. For Drake to be able to come back and do that and say, ‘Hey, there’s a guy that’s standing here getting ready to jump up and bat the ball, and I’m going to make sure that I throw it around him,’ I thought was a big play. Whether we hand it, whether we throw it, whether we throw it to Hunter, whether we throw it to Diggs, we’re just clean about execution. Then once that happens, we see guys transitioning and blocking and let the identity take over and take care of football better and all that other stuff.”
On Kayshon Boutte coming across as pretty vulnerable in his Player Tribute article and the type of growth that he’s seen from him:
“That’s not easy to do. I told him I know that that will help a lot of people. He’s, I would say, a private person, but I have seen a lot of growth from him personally. It’s important to him. I think this team means a lot to him. He competes. He seems to kind of always come through when we need him, just like he did again last night. For him to be able to open up and share those things publicly, as candidly as he I did, I was really proud of him. Said that immediately when I saw it. I think it just shows a lot of growth, and that’s not easy to do.”
On his thoughts on the left side of the line with Will [Campbell] and Jared [Wilson]:
“Had some good plays. Had some plays they’d like to have back. So we can evaluate everybody and say that they had some good plays in a run game, had some good pass protections, gave up a sack. Can’t get pushed back in. And then if we’re cutting a guy, we’re trying to get rid of the ball, and so we got to get rid of the ball, and Drake knows that. So that’s how it goes. We just put 65, 70 plays out there. There’s going to be some good ones. There’s going to be some bad ones. And hopefully, there’s not too many of them that get you beat.”
On the fact Christian Elliss being a player who’s made some plays for them on special teams and defense, and how he’s seen him grow in this system this season:
“Again, he has a certain skillset. He can run. He’s been able to cover, we’ve blitzed him. Really has a lot of versatility. Try not to overload him with a bunch of different positions. But he spied the quarterback last night when he extended and went out, came to balance, made a tackle. It’s not easy to do on an athletic quarterback like [Justin] Herbert. He comes to work every single day, trying to get better, trying to improve run reads, fits, awareness, communication. That’s what I appreciate the most about Christian, is that he just doesn’t come in with any preconceived notions. He comes in with a willingness to improve. I would say that nobody spent more time with coaches than Christian, training camp, OTAs, trying to get it right, trying to study. Again, he’s been a factor for us in fourth down and a factor for us on defense as well. We’re going to need everybody this week, again, just like we did last week.”
On how he’s feeling with his lip
“It’s fine. I’ve been hit harder than that.”
(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.)
From our archive - this week all-time:
April 2 - April 17 (Through 26yrs)
Join 2,000+ fans getting exclusive stats, analysis, and insights delivered straight to their inbox every week. Never miss a play.