Mike Vrabel loves the game of football, but he also has his priorities straight.
As much as Vrabel lives and breathes the sport he played and now coaches, we’ve already seen how much he understands where it ranks when it comes to family.
However, one recent story has focused in on former Vikings GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, who was recently fired by the team this offseason. Adofo-Mensah apparently worked remotely for a brief period in 2023 following the birth of his first child, which was detailed recently by The Athletic’s Alec Lewis and Dianna Russini.
He reportedly missed training camp meetings and practices while on paternity leave, instead working remotely over that span. That decision to be away from the team has seemingly been a topic of discussion in league circles in recent days, and Vrabel was asked about Adofo-Mensah’s situation on Tuesday.
He was asked if the news shocked him, along with how he decides when it’s a good time to stop thinking about football. However, the Patriots’ head coach more or less stayed away from the question, but instead emphasized the fact that he supports the people around him both on and off the field.
“Well, I don’t think there’s ever a time to stop thinking about football,” said Vrabel. “Football has been a part of my life since I was 12 years old and started to be able to play. We do everything that we possibly can to support the people in our building, on and off the field, our coaches, and I’m really trying to do everything that we can to support the men and women in our building, and that’s where my focus is.”
Vrabel has been true to his word in supporting his players. Personal absences for the birth of a child are definitely common, and we’ve seen that occur many times over the years, even before he became the Patriots coach.
Still, if there’s any question about Vrabel’s support when it comes to family with the guys in his locker room, all you have to do is look at the situation with Jahlani Tavai this season. He and his wife endured a tragedy after both losing their child, with Tavai also seeing his wife be placed in a medically induced coma.
Tavai was gone for an extended period, with no details released publicly until the linebacker’s wife finally announced it. His teammates were obviously aware, and credit them for never saying what happened while all of that was unfolding, as well as for not leaking the details to the media.
Internally, Vrabel handled it the best way he could have. Rather than make it something his player dealt with privately and simply keep the train moving forward, Vrabel didn’t do that. Instead, he took additional steps to make sure Tavai felt his teammates’ love and support by having the group FaceTime him, and it was obviously something the veteran appreciated.
More importantly, it showed everyone in that locker room that they’re more than just players. Vrabel cares deeply for each and every one of them. It also showed that while Vrabel may have said he always thinks about football, he absolutely knows there are times when it needs to take a backseat to family.
Since coming back, Tavai’s also played in over 70% of the snaps on defense, and seems to be playing inspired football during this postseason run. Should they raise a trophy, there will likely be tears that will go beyond being a champion, given what his family has been through this year.
Vrabel has mentioned repeatedly throughout his first year here in New England that the people they love always come first. As a former player, he understands the balance that goes along with both the business and personal side of this sport. He noted that family is the driving factor in why they do what they do, and he’s enjoyed the process that goes along with that.
“I appreciate where they all come from,” Vrabel said earlier this season. “I appreciate their backgrounds. You can see the type of people they are by when you meet their families. I think that’s something that really shows in the pride that they have.”
“We do this to provide for our family. So outside of winning, let’s be honest, that’s why we do this. So I enjoy meeting their families, and I enjoy meeting the people that they care about. And we always said things that are important to them should be important to us.”
That’s certainly part of what’s made this current run so special. He said on Monday that times like this week are rare, but enjoying it with the people they love is something he hopes his players do as they continue getting ready for Sunday.
“Well, we’ve talked about this entire season, especially in the playoffs, is being able to embrace the preparation, embrace the hard work that it takes that goes into this, but also to be able to enjoy everything that comes along with this,” said Vrabel. “We have to enjoy moments like this. We have to enjoy the execution. We have to enjoy our families when they get out there. But we also have to be able to embrace the preparation.”
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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.
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This was a really good article connecting a lot of points and showing how Vrabel is making this team really unified.
I appreciate it. He’s certainly done an incredible job when it comes to creating a tight-knit locker room and I definitely believe it’s played a big role in where they are now, especially on defense. Hopefully, they’ll have one more good performance left in them on Sunday.
Right on. Vrabel is a great mix of old/new school where he’s able to handle today’s players well. He has these players unified as a group and playing hard for him. That is the hardest task and key measure of a head coach. Game planning, clock mgt and other facets of the job pale in comparison. He’s been an A+ grade so far, and it’s not just because they are in the superbowl. He had that battle won seemingly in training camp. Impressive.