TRANSCRIPT: Mike Vrabel Press Conference 1/21
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Here’s what New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel had to say during his press conference with the media on Wednesday, January 21, 2026.
On if he can let us know if he might be activating the window for Mack Hollins:
“That won’t happen today, no.”
On his thoughts on his team being on the road, and what things he’s learned about his group that he take into a road game such as this one:
“We played in a lot of different environments. You’ve got to take care of the football. You’re going to have to try to find a way to win in critical situations at the end of the half, at the end of the game, whether that’s five minutes or just think back to defensively, getting stops in Miami. We made a critical kick. Tampa Bay, we executed at the end of half. Certain situations, five minute in New Orleans. So I think each game kind of has its own story, but you better take care of football, especially in Denver.”
On what characteristics players have to have to take that mentality on the road and be successful on the road:
“Well, I think we try to preach it through the entire offseason and being able to establish an identity that travels, overcoming mistakes that happen in the game, which there always are. I think that you have to be resilient. I mean, there’s going to be some swings in momentum. You’re going to have to be able to handle the environment offensively and not put yourself in bad situations because your operation isn’t very good. There’s a lot of things that we try to practice, knowing that we’re going to have to play half of our games on the road.”
[Inaudible – possibly on Carl Davis]:
“I would anticipate him being out there. Probably in a limited capacity, but just working his way through protocol.”
On the fact the Broncos allowed a season-low 23 sacks and what makes them so good:
“The quarterback gets it out. They do a nice job with moving the pocket and different throws, and not just standing back there. Sean [Payton] and his staff has done a great job of finding the balance of when to throw in the pocket and seven-man protection sometimes on third down. Then again, when they don’t, they block them. They do a nice job of blocking them on the edges, and they try to stay firm in the middle.”
On if he goes back and looks at Stidham’s preseason stuff, or if he just sticks with what they do offensively and figure, ‘still the same stuff?’
“Again, he’s got the snaps that he has, the 400-so snaps that are in regular season action, and then they have a lot of snaps on what they want to do. We’ll have to be prepared for the plan and the things that they’ve shown. I’m sure there’ll be some things that they haven’t shown. He’s more than capable to go out there and operate. It’s why he’s a backup and one that was coveted around the league.”
On how much he tapped into Josh [McDaniels]’s knowledge of him and if he talked with him about, ‘Hey, this is what he likes, this is what he doesn’t like.’
“I think every week we try to use every resource that we have at our disposal. Josh coached him a couple of years ago. Anything that we have that we can use to help us, we’ll try.”
On the “no naps” message this year, and how does he make sure his defense doesn’t take a nap against the backup quarterback who hasn’t played in a long time:
“I think this is a pretty motivated group, I just think, to try to continue to play together with the speed that they have the last couple of weeks. I’m confident that they’ll remain excited and ready to go.”
On the fact he brought in Ashton Grant this season as the quarterbacks coach, and what he’s seen from him, how he’s developed, Drake Maye, and if he crossed paths in Cleveland last year:
“Yeah, I worked with Ashton in Cleveland. I got to evaluate him every day and what he did in Cleveland. I think it’s a good balance between him and Josh. Josh was really excited for us to be able to add, Ashton was in on those interview processes that we had for the quarterback coach. I think Ashton really fit his vision that he had. First year in the system, Josh is going to have a heavy role in that. But also, I’ll go in there, and Ashton will be meeting with these guys situationally. I think it is a good balance between him and Josh and how long Josh has done it and maybe the newness the youngness of Ashton is a nice little balance.”
On if he expects Mack Hollins to practice today:
“No, I would not anticipate – Karen [Guregian], you just have to talk louder so that they hear your question – I would not anticipate Mack being out there.”
On the fact he’s not afraid to jump in drills from time to time with the guys, and if there is a part of him as a player who’s played in big games like this and if there’s a part of him that deep down misses the physicality of the sport?
“No. Every day I wake up, I’m glad that I don’t have to practice or play.”
On going back to Milton Williams, the decision to sign him, identifying him as a potential main piece here in the defense, if he can talk about that early thought of going after him and then now that he’s been here, he’s met all expectations, if not more:
“Again, free agency is always funny. We knew we needed to supplement the roster and targeted some guys, got some guys, didn’t get some guys. And I was excited to add Milt, the person, quality person. I think the play speaks for itself. We have high expectations for everybody, but certainly Milt and it’s good to have him back out there. He’s helped in a lot of phases, a lot of areas. In the run game. Had some really nice plays last week affecting the quarterback. We talked about on the interception return that his push kind of started it, blocking the guy back into the tight end. We’ll need everybody, including Milt. We’ll need their best efforts this week. Again, that’s kidn of where it went last year. You target guys, and some guys you get, some guys you don’t.”
On when he’s dealing with rookies and younger players who maybe aren’t used to the bright lights of the stage of an AFC Championship, how does he prepare them, or does he rely on some veterans to talk with younger guys?
“They’re two more games experienced in the playoffs than they were two weeks ago. So just try to play well, and prepare, and enjoy it.”
On if there’s anything different that he’s doing here this week in preparing for the altitude, and as it pertains to special teams as well, anything that changes the game plan heading into Sunday:
“Well, I’m sure we’ll have to figure out how far Andy [Borregales] can kick with the altitude. And then just being good with where we’re going to put the kickoffs. Marcus [Jones] is going to have to adjust where he aligns based on where the ball travels. But I’m confident that everybody’s going to be ready to go. Hopefully, we can force them to punt and give Marcus some opportunities.”
On the fact with Drake, in these last few games, he’s had a few turnovers and how does he go about just addressing that with him and working on ball security, especially now facing Denver:
“Same way I do all the time. We have to be able to not get careless with the football. We can’t be reckless. And a lot of it is operation. We had two turnovers where we all weren’t on the same page. And not only is it …that’s …you could have a negative play if you don’t have everybody on the same page. But even worse, you lose the football. Or if you don’t have somebody on the same page and they blitz, somebody gets hurt. Those are the things we talk about when we’re not on the same page so I think the operation is going to be critical.”
On understanding every season, every team is different and if there are any lessons he took from six years ago leading a team on the road into the AFC Championship game that might help him this week or on Sunday:
“No. You’re going to have to do what we talked about. You’re going to have to be able to execute in some critical situations, some third downs. There’s going to be some third downs that we’re going to have to convert, and there’s going to be some stops that we’re going to have to be able to make. Then I think the turnovers and taking advantage of your scoring opportunities in the red zone.”
On when he’s messaging the players, does he lean into the opportunity of now in the AFC Championship game, or does he try to keep things fairly similar to what he’s done throughout the course of the season:
“I think it’s similar to what we’ve done. It’s focused on what we want the team to try to do, and then offensively, defensively, and special teams, things that we think are important, go about practicing them and making sure that everybody’s ready. First and second down today. We’ll get third down tomorrow, on and on, on into the red zone. So we just have to, again, I’m focused on embracing the preparation and enjoying this entire experience.”
On what makes Denver’s pass rush so talented other than the obvious?
“They’re good. They got speed rushers. Zach Allen, I think, led the league in quarterback hits, and he’s as athletic of a player inside as you’ll find. That’s a tough combination when he’s coming inside, and then they can’t step up. [Nik] Benitto and Coop [Jonathan Cooper], they keep coming. They do a nice job blitzing. Vance [Joseph] does a nice job blitzing, but they have good personnel. Then, when they don’t, they get the different pressures. We’ll have to be ready for the base guys that are in there, and then any pressures that are going to come off of it.”
On if there’s a need to work against the silent count or extra pressure in trying to deal with that crowd noise and get everybody on the same page this week, and if they’ve dealt with it much this year:
“We’ve worked a silent count. We’ve worked a silent count throughout the season, we’ve worked it when we weren’t necessarily going on the road, just trying to figure that we would need to. We went through that stretch of home games. There were games that we were just focused on, saying, ‘Hey, let’s just do it today just to work on it so that we can have it when we need it,’ and then we’ll certainly need it this week.”
On if he gets the feeling that the team enjoys playing on the road?
“Probably when we win, they enjoy it. Yeah, I enjoy it, too.”
On the fact his defensive tackles have made a lot of impact plays during the playoffs and if he can speak to the performance of that group, as well a if it’s allowed them to be more flexible schématically now that they’re healthy:
“I don’t think the schematics of it really change much. I think that we have high expectations. Our best players have to play good. But I think that the [Corey] Durdens, the Lenny T’s [Leonard Taylor], the Tongas [Khyris Tonga], those guys stepping in have really done a nice job. So we have to continue to get some impact from that group, like we have the last couple of weeks. ”
(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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