Here’s what New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel had to say after Sunday’s AFC Championship win over the Denver Broncos:
On the belief in getting to this point:
“I think that that’s why you have to do this. You have to believe things sometimes before you can see them. You have to believe that what you’re doing is the right thing. If it’s not, you have to recognize it and make adjustments and changes to the program and everything else. We got a great group of guys, and they continued to, again, believe in the things that we did, and they formed and created an identity, and they tried to protect it. Then today was just another example of as things kind of change and unfold, our ability to adjust.”
“Josh [McDaniels] and Zak [Kuhr], and Jeremy [Springer] did a great job leading their units, and the players executed when they had to. I know that there’s going to be a lot of questions about this and that and the other thing. We did enough to win the football game in tough conditions. When we got that field goal, the defense, and talking to them and I said, ‘If they don’t score, then it’s going to be hard for them to win the football game,’ obviously. We took care of the ball, and then the five-minute drive, we were able to run it just enough, and then came up with a big call there at the end of the game to seal it.”
On how much of this was a game of adjustments, the quarterback using his legs instead of his arm in critical situations:
“Yeah, and that’s a great thing about Drake, the ability to extend plays, and if it’s not there, gain chunks, and he’s done that most of the year. Again, We’ll have to get a lot of things corrected, and we’ll have to play our best football game in two weeks if we want to finish champions.”
On Christian Gonzalez, he got beat on that early pass there but then seals the game and what that says about him:
“It just says that he’s been playing really, really good football, and sometimes you get beat. The best ones do. Again, about six or eight weeks ago, I can’t remember when, but I saw a different Gonzo. I saw just something went off, and it changed. Maybe the Ravens game or something. I noticed just a different player and a different person. He’s so talented, and I appreciate every one of them. He could certainly be elite. Your best players have to make those types of plays in championship games.”
On the timing of guys who they’ve brought in from the practice field and the timing of the guys they’ve brought in, and if he knew that Leonard Taylor blocked that kick:
“I did not. Lenny T, revenge game, week five. We just keep making it, this week or two weeks, it’ll be revenge game, week six. So Clint McMillan does a great job of getting those guys ready to go. Each and every one of them has made the plays to help us win, and they’ll have to continue to do that.”
On what it was like for him letting the clock hit zero:
“Well, it’s a group effort. It just wasn’t me. Again, I stand up in front of you guys, and I am thankful of the people that are around us in that building in our program. You have to come together, and you have to do what’s best for the team and from a personnel standpoint, from a coaching standpoint, and from the players. You get everybody to believe in something and to buy in. Again, that doesn’t come without adversity. You have to have adversity.”
“But I do this for the players. I’ve been in their position. I have. I’ve been there. And it’s amazing. I want other people to feel that feeling. And it’s for our families who make a lot of sacrifices, and the excitement and the joy that they have. Trust me, I’m fine. I’ll be okay. I do this for the players to be able to experience this with their families and our coaches to be able to experience it with their families.”
On how bad did it get on the field and at what point did he realize it was going to be that kind of game:
“I would say halfway through the third quarter. I think when we got that field goal. Again, I wish it would have been able to be a touchdown, but it wasn’t. Then it just kept getting worse and worse and worse. Our defense was playing really good. We were able to do just enough offensively to give them a break, even kicking a football and the operation, that stuff is things that you can’t really replicate back home.”
On if he was able to tell his players with the elements being as bad as they were, if there was something specific he had to say during the game to get that focus:
“I think that we’re continuing to talk to him about the cleats and the ball security. You saw Rhamondre slip, and it’s just a reminder that one play could make the difference. Then he came back and ran really well … about just taking care of the football and calling a game that doesn’t put the ball in harm’s way. We forced them … and again, defensively, we adjusted. They threw some things out there. We were all over it. You saw when they had to throw the football that it wasn’t that easy.”
On his view of two critical plays, the fourth and one play when they were outside there, and also Christian Elliss’ forcing the backwards pass:
“Yeah, and Ellis continues to make plays. We talk about it, just takes one play. Whether that’s Marcus Jones last week, Christian Ellis, which it would have been a touchdown. They blew it way too late, blew the whistle, and I guess the call. But for print purposes, just put the whistle in there.”
“See what I did there?”
“And then the fourth just coming up with huge stops, and then our ability to get the little bit of yards that we needed in critical situations.”
On Adam [Vinatieri] being up on the stage, obviously a former teammate, [giving him the trophy:
“Well, again, I think that the position that I’m in, I’ve been able to see a lot of former teammates and guys that wanted to come back and be around. I saw Tom Ashworth last night, a local resident, and having Adam here and seeing him before the game, and Val. He was probably licking his chops. Those conditions probably looked pretty good to Adam to go kick field goals in.”
On how he would define this group and what this group is as he heads to the Super Bowl:
“Fun to coach. They’re entertaining. We get another week for Will’s weekend update. They’ve been resilient. They’ve been very coachable. There’s a lot of connectivity in them, and I appreciate what they do.”
(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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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.
