TRANSCRIPT: Mike Vrabel Weekly Interview on WEEI 1/27
Mike Vrabel sits down with the Greg Hill Show on WEEI following the Patriots AFC Championship Win.
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Here’s what Mike Vrabel had to say during his Weekly Radio appearance on WEEI’ The Greg Hill Show on Tuesday, January 27, 2026.
Greg Hill: I like getting you on because I never know how accurate the reporting is.
“It’s not very.”
Post-game, you chugged Miller light and then you mount crushmore’d it? Is that accurate?
“I was just walking by. Morgan [Moses] handed me something. I trusted him and then I just put it right in Will [Campbell]’s face just having fun. Okay.
Did you crush the can off the head?
“No. Not on this face.”
Courtney Cox: Everyone make the bus?
“Everyone made the bus. There were zero issues. Walked on at eight o’clock and everybody was there.”
GH: From a weather perspective, a ton of stuff to talk about when it comes to that game and obviously the next one. But from a weather perspective, they were saying, broadcast-wise, that we couldn’t even tell how bad it was, but it got really bad.
“The wind was a factor. Then it was kind of like a wet snow, similar to out here. The field was actually… It kind of started to freeze on top. You could see Rhamondre [Stevenson] slip there. So the footing was interesting. And again, those are just things that you have to be ready for and try to plan for and adjust accordingly.”
Jermaine Wiggins: I try to get a look at the guy’s cleats. I know they had the grass field, and when you get the weather like that, the guys are not wearing seven studs anymore?
“It’s impossible to try to get these [guys] … They never use them growing up. It’s like telling them to stay off their phones.”
Courtney Cox: When it comes to Drake and the awareness at the end of the half, for him to be aware that there was one second left to go down. I know it didn’t result in points, but to give Andy [Borregales] the opportunity, how impressive is that as a second-year quarterback?
“Those are things that we’ve been practicing. Again, that’s what we ended up doing the last couple of weeks there at the end of the half. We go through these scenarios. If you’re going to scramble, we’re going to have to know how far we can get before we have to get down or get out of bounds. He’s done a really nice job of that, and we’re going to need some of those situations here in 13 days. 14 days, whatever it is 12 days.”
GH: He did say, post-game that he thought you were going to be mad on the keeper to seal the game, that he ran out of bounds.
“No, because, again, once, where the timeouts were and everything else, there’s certain times where you’re okay getting out of bounds if you get a first down. There’s times where we would definitely like to stay in bounds. But in that situation, resetting the downs with them, they don’t have any timeouts, and we’re good to go there. They’ve got the one time out.”
GH: A lot of intrigue about that particular play by itself. What’s the play call there? Is he deciding to go on his own?
“No, he doesn’t go rogue. No, those aren’t things that he does and goes rogue. So we discuss those things, and Josh [McDaniels] and I talk him through with what we want to do in five minutes and plays that we have available. And those are always things that we can go to. So just trying to get everybody on the same page And, Drake was able to do that and give us, use his legs.”
Chris Curtis: And the situational awareness, I think if there’s one massive difference outside of the players and all the other things that have been changed year to year, it’s that no situation felt like it was out of control. You watch the game, you go back to that Saints game where you challenge it so they wind the clock. You get Drake May running directly to you, slide and get to the timeout with one second left. Is that something you’re proud of this year? Just seeing that the way the players have reacted and the way your staff has been situationally aware in all moments?
“Yeah, I think that’s one thing that I’m certainly proud of. And we didn’t start doing those until training camp just because I felt like there was so much to do in the offseason that you don’t want to bog them down with all these, I hate to call them one-timers, as critical as they are, you just don’t want to bog them down because some guys become obsessed with it. And certainly I’ve been down that rabbit hole of being obsessed with it and what’s too much? Are you going to take a hurry-up safety? You know what I mean? There’s under four minutes and you get sacked inside the five yard and you’re down and you should run the punt team out there and take a safety. But should you just line the offense up and hurry up and take a safety? I mean, these things that you’re like, ‘Okay, that could happen. It’s never happened, but it could.’ So yes. So then we get into training camp, and then we start to build. And some of it didn’t look good. I just said, ‘Hey, bear with … Just stay with it. Trust me, I’ve been through this. I’ve seen young players, seen all different players not get it in first, not understand what this situation is. And just you have to be willing to talk, answer the questions, figure it out, trial and error. And then we’ve gotten better at it.”
GH: Where are you philosophically on the going for it as opposed to taking the points I don’t know if you pay attention to the analytics…
“I think we all have to. Yeah, I mean, we do. And again, you just… I don’t mind being aggressive. I don’t mind being aggressive. I think the biggest thing is trying to predict the flow of the game and what that’s going to look like. And how many points do you think that you’re going to need to eventually win the football game? We’ve gone for it and gotten it. We’ve gone for it and not gotten it. Obviously, when you get it, it looks like a great decision. But the other side of the court is that you don’t get it. Now the reaction and the response of what happens after that.”
JW: In the first half, your offense really was struggling a little bit, but coming out of the halftime, the adjustments, I wanted to know what you said to your team because that nine and a half drive, which led to a field goal. In my opinion, that was one of the major parts in why you were able to win the football game. What was said at halftime?
“Yeah, that we’re going to have to be able to run the football and move the line of scrimmage and stay committed to it, push some piles. There’s not going to be a whole lot of points in this football game, and then we have to come away with points. I said, If you give us some points on this first drive, I got a feeling that that’s all we’re going to need.”
Courtney Cox: Milton Williams was very adamant after the game saying, ‘Talk that S today,’ talking about how especially the defense has been disrespected, whether it’s during the regular season, postseason. Then you’ve got reports coming out of people saying the Super Bowl was actually played in the NFC Championship game. Do you like that your guys are playing with a chip on their shoulder? It seems to be working.
“However they have to get ready to play the football game, that’s all I care about.”
Courtney Cox: Do you feel like they’ve been disrespected?
“It doesn’t matter. We’re in the Super Bowl, Courtney. We can pump this thing up for 10 days. We’re all compensated very well for what we do. So I don’t think there’s any disrespect from this building or my appreciation for our football team. It doesn’t bother me.”
GH: You know who’s not in the Super Bowl?
“All the 30 other teams.”
GH: The Steelers.
Courtney Cox: They are not. They are not. Good thing I’m a Patriots fan.
“Sucks to suck, Courtney. You are a Steeler fan.”
GH: Yeah, you are.
Courtney Cox: You guys are so annoying.
“You can’t lie. The pure joy…”
Courtney Cox: My second team is the Steelers.
“The pure joy that you have. You don’t have that much team for your backup.”
Courtney Cox: We can talk off-air about the situation.
GH: There’s nothing that forgives it. It’s unforgivable.
Courtney Cox: I’m a good friend. And like I said back then, I was doing a Mike Vrabel tour.
JW: Mike, here’s what is always interesting as I look at teams going to the Super Bowl, being part of it, and have done it twice, how do you make sure that the guys, especially a lot of these younger guys in a different world with the social media and the technology, don’t get so distracted with all the hoopla and to make sure that they stay focused and understand it’s just another game.
“Again, that’s what we’ve done most of the year. I would imagine that they’re going to be on their phones just like they were last week. We’ll have to have a plan, and we’ll get them ready. We’ll coach them. We’ll keep them engaged when we get out there. And again, we’ve enjoyed this thing, and they have to continue to enjoy it, but there’s boundaries to that.”
Chris Curtis: Speaking of preparation, Dev McCorty joined us earlier before one of the playoff games, and he said that Bill Belichick would practice the Super Bowl halftime show in the build up to the game, not like with the show, but that they would spend whatever the duration of halftime was off the field during their build up to the Super Bowl and then return for the second half. But he said it actually gave them a pretty good advantage. Is that something you would consider doing?
“I would consider doing anything. You know what I mean? It’s a little bit longer, 25 minutes or whatever it is. Normal is 13. So again, I guess those are things that we always have to consider. And nobody got more practice at it than the people that have been here in this building. So we’ll try to do everything we can.”
GH: We were talking earlier about the offense, and it’s so nitpicky because you guys win these football games. So I’m confident that’s what your answer is going to be to me. But just, you look at these three games, and Drake’s completion percentage is 55 %. It set a franchise record in the regular season, at 72 %. Is there anything that’s going on offense-wise, whether it be… Is it better defenses that you guys are facing?
“Yes, that’s one of them.”
GH…That’s one of them. The line’s struggling, weather, or is it just…
“I mean, I think it’s just a lot of those combinations in playoff football. Again, we’re going to have to play better offensively. We’ll have to continue to do what we’ve done defensively, trying to take care of the football, which we did. We talked about going into Denver. Those teams that have won the last three years, or last two years that joined the Mile High Club. They didn’t turn the ball over. We were the fourth one to go in there and win and not turn the ball over.”
JW: When you talk about your defense, and one thing that I’ve really been impressed with you guys, especially in the postseason, is your aggressiveness, whether that’s adding extra guys. It seems like you’re just really aggressive. What led to that change a little bit, especially into the postseason? Or is there something that you and the coaches talk about and say, ‘Hey, we want to be a little bit more aggressive here?’
“I just think that that’s kind of the plan that you look at each and every week. That could change here. We’ll start game planning here this morning and figuring out what we need. But everything we do, we want to do it aggressively, but not recklessly, whether that’s having the football in our hands or making a pass or blitzing. We want to be sound, but also want to be aggressive.”
Courtney Cox: Leonard Taylor getting a taste of the ball. Those were his words. Tipping the ball there. Perfect time for you guys to call him up. How happy were you for him?
“Lenny T. Revenge game, week seven. It lives on. Started with the Jets Revenge game, and now we just have built on it. It’s the stuff that we find really happy for him. He’s a great kid, and we talk about everybody’s journey to their career looks a little differently. He was with the Jets, and we were able to pick him up and loved him, loved his attitude, his willingness to work and try to make some plays and help this team, and he made another one.”
GH: Some young guys on this team. How many guys on the team actually got the ‘Warriors’ reference?
“There wasn’t a single, I had to show them the video. I had to actually show the movie.”
Courntey Cox: It was terrible.
“The stuff that they… I don’t know. I just keep trying to pull s**t out my a**. Hope that sticks. I’m like, ‘Oh, let’s see how this goes.’ Then the next thing you know, we’re walking around the building, we got guys with the soy sauce bottles walking around the building. And then Mack [Hollins] goes and buys the little beer bottles and empties them out. I’m like, ‘Whatever.'”
GH: He sold it.
“He did. He was like, ‘I watched that thing to get the outfit and everything.”
GH: All right. So you decided to show them that movie.
“This was a while ago. This was just, who knows?”
JW: I thought he was going full-on character.
Chris Curtis: So this morning, starting yesterday, the Internet doctors have seen an issue in Drake May’s shoulder following a hit during the AFC Championship game. Is he 100% healthy today as you guys get ready?
“There’s not a player on our team that’s 100 % healthy.”
Chris Curtis: Is he healthy enough to play at a high level?
“I would imagine we’ll go through the injury report, and whenever we have to turn that in, we’ll turn it in. But nobody’s 100 %. This will be our 21st game.”
JW: You talk about that all the time. Everybody’s journey is different. Where did that come from? Because I think that really resonates with players.
“It’s the truth. All I try to do is look at things that are actually factual and talk about them and bring them to life and say somebody was drafted in the first round, somebody drafted in the third round, somebody got cut, somebody played four years for the Steelers, didn’t start a game, and then started the next 10 years of his career. Just go on and look at it. It’s all different. And that’s what the reality is. And sometimes it takes a second or third place, or sometimes it takes getting cut and saying, ‘You know what? That sucks. And I’m lucky that I got another opportunity. I’m never going to let that happen.’ Or, ‘Hey, I got traded.’ Or, ‘Hey, this happened.’ Or, ‘I got called up from the practice squad, and I didn’t think that I was going to get called up from the practice squad, but I was ready to go. And then they kept calling me up, or then they signed me onto the roster.’ That’s just the facts. It wasn’t like I made that up. That really happened.”
JW: I played in the league a long time, and I feel like …
“How long? You said you’ve been to two Super Bowls. You played in the league a really long time. Is this your resume here? We’re not signing you this week.”
JW: I feel like I’ve never heard that. You don’t want to sign me? Are you sure? You could use the third string tight. I’m not going to do anything.
“Third string?”
JW: Fourth String? Fifth String?
“Third down specialist.”
JW: Okay. Third and one. That’s about it.
Chris Curtis: The Wiggle.
Courtney Cox: [Stefon] Diggs had an interesting path to get to where he is right now. He said that you were the best coach he’s ever played for. Do you feel like that relationship is helping him get back to where he is, or is that just all on him? I know you don’t like to give yourself credit, but everybody else gives you a lot of credit.
“Well, I appreciate that. Again, he’s been a great addition to our football team with his energy, his attitude, his demeanor, and then obviously, his performance. So it’s been fun having him around, and I love coaching him. And so, again, I try to have a relationship with everybody here and somehow try to help him.”
Courtney Cox: And Cardi B, of course.
GH: Cardi B.
“Take them to Tulum on Delta.”
“I can’t stop laughing at that.”
Courtney Cox: Delta should pay her.
“No question.”
GH: Wiggy suggested yesterday on the show that Cardi B should be the queen of New England. But I believe that role is already taken by Anne-Michael Maye.
“There’s room for a couple.”
JW: I said, we can have two Queens. New England’s big enough. Mike, and the only reason why I asked these things is because when I see you talk… to me, it’s like when I see you and I said, ‘Man, I played for a bunch of different coaches, unfortunately, because that was my career. That was the journey.’ And some of the messages that you tell these guys, I’m ‘Man, I wish I had a coach like that that communicated like that, that coached like that.’ So when I ask these questions, I feel like if I was a player right now, I would be willing to run through brick walls for you.
“Yeah, I just try to give them all the information that I think is going to help them, and then hold them accountable, and then coach them, and try to teach them. And so along that is just things that I think is going to help them. I know that there’s only so many opportunities that you get in this league. Whether that’s going to a different team, or being inactive one week, or getting an injury and coming back, or getting an opportunity to step in because somebody’s down. I just try to tell them that these things don’t come along all that often.”
GH: Probably hard to pick one, but who’s been the most influential coach when it comes to your life?
“Again, I’ve been lucky. I’ve been in a lot of great places, maybe Pittsburgh to start my career, Pittsburgh and great people at Ohio State. Obviously, this organization and Bill and all the great assistants that he had, Romeo Crenell and Dean Pees and Matt Patricia. And again, going to be with Bill O’Brien and Urban Meyer after I finish playing. These are all great people and things to learn from.”
GH: So hard to pick one?
“It is. I really try to take something from each and guy.”
Chris Curtis: I thought you sat down with Bill Cowher before the game was awesome. And the story he told about you reaching free agency and you’re negotiating. And he said, ‘We can probably get close on the money, but not the opportunity.’ And how that has sort of been a part guiding how you communicate with your players that tough lesson.
“I think so. Yeah. And so it was, again, I remember it was less than I got coming out of the draft. When I got drafted, you get a signing bonus. And then my free agency signing bonus was less than that. So it wasn’t very much. And he just said, ‘We could probably pay you the same thing to be a backup here, but they are offering you an opportunity to go up and earn a position.’ He’s like, it didn’t take me long to figure out that that’s what he was just saying. ‘I think you should probably take it.’ And again, we went back into Pittsburgh and beat him that first year that I was here. So that was pretty cool.”
GH: Looking ahead to a week from Sunday, some of the problems that these guys can cause for you.
“Well, they’re excellent, really, in all three phases. And the special teams have broken games open. It was a tie game in Atlanta, opening half for the second half, and they take one to the house. Defense creates two turnovers, and then that kind of gets out of hand. So defensively, they’re big along the front, very active, number one scoring defense in the league. Offensively, big offensive line, multiple different run schemes. Obviously, JSN is an issue. Sam Darnold, you talk about journeys and things like that, no better example than him. Talented and is obviously figuring it out.
GH: Well, 2019 on Busting with the Boys, you said you would be willing to cut off the most important male appendage to win a Super Bowl.
“I mean, maybe I’ll cut it in half, but I ain’t got the whole thing.”
GH: I was going to say, is that still the plan?
“That was just to get that young fledgling group, Taylor and Will, get them to fly in the podcast game. It took off.”
GH: So you would not part with the whole thing?
“No. You know what I mean? I say a lot of things I don’t mean.”
GH: You do?
“Yeah, I do. See you guys. This was way too long, too.”
GH: Congrats. We’re real happy, real proud of you. That is Mike Vrabel, the head coach of the New England Patriots.
(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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