TRANSCRIPT: Mike Vrabel Press Conference 2/4
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Here’s what New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel had to say during his press conference on Wednesday, February 4, 2026.
On what he’s seen from Drake [Maye] this week in terms of preparation and just his ability to maybe stay even keel given the higher media attention on the bigger stage:
“Well, I think we try to make it as normal as we possibly can, knowing that it’s not going to be. We try to stay on the same routine and try to keep the meeting times the same, the treatment times. I think that these guys were able to work on Monday, have yesterday off. There was a lot of activity around the hotel, the meeting rooms, and guys are getting together and watching tape. I think that’s what everybody has to do to make sure that they’re ready. I think the next 48 hours will be critical for us as we get back into our normal routine here of a Wednesday and Thursday, and then the families come in and just things start to ramp up.”
On the fact we see teams every year spend big in free agency, and a lot of times it doesn’t work, but his team had a lot of success with what it did in free agency this year, and if there was something about that approach that he thinks going into that as an organization led to that success:
“I think you just have to be very intentional with the people that you’re bringing in. I think sometimes free agency, you have to be able to use it. People use it in different ways. It’s a part of our business. It’s another way to acquire players and player acquisition. Understand that you have to be convicted on the person that you’re bringing in as a player, and also the impact that they’re going to make in the locker room, and around the building and in the community. I appreciate what everybody did in their efforts, and Eliot [Wolf] and Ryan [Cowden] and Stretch [John Streicher]. I appreciate what they do to help us, steer us in the right direction as it relates to the players that we’re going to try to acquire.”
On the fact they ended up drafting three rookies this year that made significant contributions on special teams and if he can speak to the contributions of those guys throughout the season:
“We did have some significant changes in that department, and what it relates to Andy [Borregales] and Julian [Ashby] being able to come into this league and handle that. Again, it’s never going to be perfect. The kickers, every kick isn’t going to be made. But when we’ve needed Andy, and I think he’s really settled in, Julian has been consistent, and Bryce [Baringer] has been, our punter, has been pretty much the veteran of the group that’s kind of handled those guys. We’ve made big kicks when we’ve had to, going to Miami and to Buffalo and on and on through the playoffs. Those will be critical, that if this game comes down to a field goal, I’m confident that those guys will execute.”
On the fact he mentioned the word critical these next three days, and he mentioned last week he was slowly going to install things, and what’s the process like for him in getting these next three days and getting the most important things, and when it was done:
“Well, we felt like we just needed to make sure that they were engaged and that there wasn’t stuff that was just repetitive, and they were sitting there looking at us like, ‘We already covered this. We went through this.’ So I want to make sure that now they’re stimulated, they’re engaged, locked in, moving forward here, first, second, and third, and red zone and situations. So that’s why the next 48 hours, I think, will be really important.”
On why he thinks the Seahawks are so effective defending the run with just sometimes four down linemen:
“Because, again, they play with great technique, they play with great effort. They’re talented, different skill sets. You look at Murphy, and he has one skill set. You look at Leonard Williams, different skill set. Both play square. They play with their hands. The edge guys set, sometimes vertical edges. Sometimes they mix in some movement. They don’t get moved off the line of scrimmage. And so if you don’t move the line of scrimmage, it’s going to be hard to run the football.”
On the fact there’s perception and reality when it comes to the Super Bowl and the experience with a lot of these young guys, and he reflects back on his first time, what is something that he wishes he knew that first time around that he learned after all of those visits to the Super Bowl that he’s passed on to this team?
“I didn’t really, again, every game is different and don’t anticipate how it’s going to go, whether it comes down to the end of the game situation or a kick or a two-minute drill. Try not to predict what those are going to be. Make sure that each and every situation is covered and understand that each of them is critical, whether that’s a short yardage early in the first quarter or that’s a red zone stop late in the game to give our team a chance to win. Just understand, having watched all these Super Bowls in the last few years and the ones that I’ve been a part of, is trying not to really predict how it’s going to go, and you’ll have to see how the game is unfolding. But understand each situation that we’re going to be asked to execute we’ve been through since April.”
On the fact they didn’t have any overtime games this year and coming into this year, did he and his staff have any general viewpoint on offense first, defense first? And did that philosophy change at all when he saw the overtime games unfold in the regular season and in the playoffs?
“We have conversations, and we’ll continue to talk about it, whatever the philosophy ends up being, the players have been explained what that is or what that will be, and how we’ll try to attack it. A lot of this depends on their kickoff return, where the ball goes on touchbacks, how good the field goal kickers are. There’s just a lot that goes into it. They’ll understand the overtime rules, it’s just like starting a new game. It’s not sudden death. Both teams will get an opportunity to possess the ball. We’ll get to the end of the first quarter. If there’s 30 seconds, it’s not the end of the game. We’re just going to flip it over and go to the second quarter. So we’ve explained all that, and then we’ll just have to be ready if this game goes to overtime.”
On the fact we’ve talked a lot about how you support a Rhamondre [Stevenson] through the passing of his father back in the spring. Just curious what he remembers specifically about his conversations with Tony Dews before he went out to Vegas, and what was the best course of action then:
“I think there’s things that come up that you’re not really prepared for, and to have Rhamondre have something that traumatic happen to him and his family and him not know us as people was hard. To try to support somebody that he doesn’t know where we’re coming from, he doesn’t know Mike Vrabel, he doesn’t know Tony Dews, other than taking some faith that we’re looking out for him as a person and we’re looking out for him and his family and what’s best and how they handle it and try to do everything that we could to get him in a place that he could come and do his job and perform and glorify his dad. He’s done that every single day. I’m proud of him. I can’t imagine how that felt and what that still feels like. We’re lucky to have people like Tony Dews who care deeply about not only his position, but everybody on this football team, and coaches and staff. Tony, he would have gone the second that I told him. It was just like, give him a little bit of time, just let’s wait. Then finally, it worked out for Tony to go out there and be with Rhamondre and his family. So obviously, very appreciative of Tony.”
On the fact he talked about Terrell [Williams] yesterday and him being here and if he can maybe describe what impact he was able to have on the team, even through battling his cancer and how Zak [Kuhr] maybe stepped up in a unique situation as the play caller:
“Well, we’ve I’ve always talked about the impact that Tee makes on not only the defense, but throughout the football team, his ability to connect and reach with every single player at every single position, young players, veteran players. That’s a skill. That’s something that I can’t necessarily teach or instruct them on. That’s something that comes very naturally to Terrell. I would say that his humility through all this has been something that I’ve really appreciated. Never wanted to be a distraction, even if I told him a million times that he wasn’t, and even if the players told him that he wasn’t, his humility was always about the team. He just kept saying, ‘I don’t want to mess anything up. I don’t want people to worry about me.’ So I’ve always appreciated that. And I’m glad that he’s here with us. Zak has been fantastic. I think that much like players, when given opportunities, coaches sometimes have the same thing. When they get more opportunity, they take advantage of it and then turn that into something else.”
On the fact Will [Campbell] shared a story with us yesterday about one of the early times that he met with him in Baton Rouge, and he said he took him for barbecue for a four-hour meal, and what does he remember about that meal, and what growth he has seen from him in this rookie season:
“Well, I think Will is a great teammate. I think that, again, each and every day, he’s grown, he’s improved as a person, as a player, and as a teammate. He’s comfortable in his own skin. He’s around a lot. The meal was excellent. A lot of those local establishments take care of the boys down there in Baton Rouge. It was a big spread, a great meal. I hope to go back there and hang out, and we had a good time. Again, I’ve said this before. Will wanted to make it known that he wanted to be here by that visit. Not when he visited our place, but when we visited there, it was clear that this was the place that he wanted to be.”
On the fact the Seahawks, a lot of their big plays have come from play action. Conversely, his team has been one of the best defenses against play action, and what’s made Seattle so effective when they use their run fakes, and what’s made his team so effective at stopping those kinds of plays:
“All these human interest stories, and then Taylor [Kyles] just goes right into the nuts and bolts of it. [smiles] I know. I love it. You have to be able to transition if you don’t pressure and you don’t time up the pressure with play action. Again, they’re trying to get people blocking at the line of scrimmage. They’re trying to marry their run actions with this system, which, as far back as I can remember in this system, and Clint’s done a great job of marrying their run actions each week. It’s difficult to prepare for. You get linebackers that are now coming up to the line of scrimmage, opening up, passing lanes at the second and third level, and usually, finding ways to protect the quarterback with seven guys in there. So big thing for us has always just been about transitioning and making sure that we’re able to get back, we’re able to panic when we’re not pressuring, and that we’re able to get into throwing lanes.”
On the fact he said that the next 48 hours are so important, so critical, and what does he remember about when he was a player, these 48 hours that he can convey to his football team, the advice that he got or the approach that he got when he was a player in these 48 hours:
“It seems like forever ago, Sal [Paolantonio]. I don’t know if there is anything really specifically that I would take. It’s a whirlwind on the first Super Bowl. We didn’t have the week off. I just felt like being in this game with a week off, trying to be very intentional with the schedule, what we were doing when we were working, and not just going eight days straight. Felt like that was important. So, trying to be intentional with the schedule, but also just trying to keep them engaged, keep them locked in, and get them to believe that something that we do at practice today is going to come up in the game, and how we handle that or how we execute that could make the difference. That’s how we’ve tried to approach all our practices, is that something that you’re going to do today is going to help us win. I don’t know which play it is. I’m not sure which correction that it will be, but there’s going to be a play today that somebody’s going to make or not make that’s going to make the difference in the game on Sunday.”
On the fact he has a roster turned over over half the players a year ago, and of course, he has holdovers, he has the draft he has free agents. A lot of times that takes multiple seasons to come together, and to what he attributes the ability of your team to come together so quickly in one season to be here:
“I think getting the right people in the building. I think we were intentional about trying to make sure that when the players returned, there was a program in place that they could look at, that they could believe in, that they wanted to be a part of, and that they wanted to protect. That’s what we set out to do, much before the players were even into the building. Felt like we were intentional with what we did in the offseason about building a team, bringing guys together from every background and every different experience. I didn’t think that it was important to go out on the field. In mini-camp, I felt like it was more important to spend that time getting to know each other and trying to build that before we went out and tried to run plays.”
On with Drake May, if there was a moment this offseason or season that he realized he was special and had special abilities:
“I think I probably realized that before I got here. I think that’s a large part of the reason that I wanted to be here. There were plays in training camp and things that he did, whether his… I think the thing that was the accuracy outside of the pocket or on the move, is I’ve touched on it, it’s just the way that he plays the position. It’s just, he has an athletic nature to the way that he plays the position. I think that’s somewhat unique. I think that everybody has a different skill set, and he’s comfortable in the pocket. I think his ability to transfer up into the pocket, to make moves, to make throws off platform at different angles has been impressive.”
On the fact he’s led the Patriots to their first Super Bowl appearance since 2019 in your first year as head coach, and he’s on track to become the first person to win a Super Bowl with the same organization as a player and a coach. What would a win on Sunday mean to him personally and to the organization and to the entire team:
“Well, the organization has set a standard. The Patriot organization, Robert and Jonathan, have set a standard for this organization that this is what the expectation is. We understand that, we embrace that. For me personally, again, I’ve been through this. I want the players to experience this with their families. I want them to experience this with their kids. I want Morgan Moses to experience this with his three boys. He’s been such a great presence on our football team. Not talking about his play on the field, which has been superb, but just his presence, his demeanor. He’s a wonderful father. The way that he cares for his boys and does his job is something that I appreciate. I want them to experience that and that feeling. I’ll be excited watching them enjoy it.”
On the fact he mentioned Zak Kuhr and what made him the right choice when adversity hit, to be the guy who stepped up, He had a lot of great position coaches on his staff, but what made Zak the right guy, because I don’t think he had defensive play-calling experience before, other than in college a long time ago:
“Zak has just grown from the time that I was with him at Ohio State and to the time that Stretch spent with him offensively to us bringing him in in Tennessee and watching him grow defensively and understand the concepts that we were doing defensively, why we were doing them, the suggestions that he made to try to enhance some of those things, continue to grow. I think he really can adjust quickly, and he has an ability to not get hung up. We sub, and we make different calls, and I’m always trying to watch and make sure that we’re coordinated in what we’re doing. And he’s done that. He did a great job in the offseason. He’s a good teacher, good communicator. So he’s really helped us.”
On when he was playing in the snow like he was last week, if he attacks certain patches of grass with the play calling? Look where maybe things are a little bit more like trodden on and trying to get some footing there:
“No, I don’t think we’re good. We’re just not that good. I mean, hopefully, the kickers have the ability to put the ball where they want it. But I don’t think we could be that specific. It’s a little too difficult to be able to do 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.)
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