TRANSCRIPT: Mike Vrabel Press Conference 6/2

Here’s the full transcript of what New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel had to say during his press conference with reporters on June 2, 2026.

OPENING STATEMENT:

“So Doug Marrone is going to get his knee cleaned up. Okay. We work our coaches pretty hard here, just like our players. And so I think it’s best to have that done now so that Doug will be ready to go for training camp and there won’t be any setbacks. So if you don’t see Doug out there, that’s what’s going on there. We have moved, after some deliberation, the mandatory minicamp to next week, June 9th, 10th, and 11th. That’ll give us, you know, Monday to clean up a couple physicals on some guys that weren’t here previously, and then 3 days of really good work there, and that will conclude the veteran offseason program. We’ll have the rookies for a little bit of time after that. And joint practices – so as well as those worked out last year, certainly the one day with the Commanders here and then traveling to Minnesota, we’ll have Indianapolis on August 11th, which will be – it’s a very good team to go against. It’s a very good offensive football team. Shane [Steichen]’s an excellent offensive coach and excellent head coach, but very good offensive line, versatility on their defense. So that’ll be an important day for us. And then Philadelphia will come here for the 19th and 20th of August. So that’ll allow us to work against an accomplished football team that’s used to winning and has a very good football team, and great players, and well-coached.”

“The last item. Where you at, Julia [Palin]? Hi, Julia. Congratulations. So Julia just decided to dabble in a marathon in Oregon and ran it in 2 hours and 50 minutes and 2 seconds and won. So congratulations, Julia, and don’t keep those things a secret. So she went and dabbled in a marathon and won.”

On given his relationship with AJ Brown, knowing him as a person and a player, how important it was for him to make that deal happen:

“Well, not important. I mean, again, I think that just trying to improve our football team every possible way. Give our offense multiple weapons to build on what we did last year. And I think having experience with the person, to be able to add an accomplished NFL football player, receiver, premium player at his position. But somebody that we also feel strongly about as a person and a competitor and as a teammate. I appreciate Eliot [Wolf] for being able to work and get that done.”

On knowing AJ, what makes him such a special wide receiver:

“Well, I mean, I think he loves football. I think that he has a physical skill set. I think he’s got great body control. I think he’s strong at the catch point, but I also think as he’s grown as a player and as a receiver, just the nuances of releases versus press or playing versus bracketed coverages or zone coverages, plays physical with the football and, again, has been productive and a consistent player.”

When he coached him, if AJ ever told him that he was a Patriots fan:

“I mean, I think that that was known a long time, you know what I mean? I think I knew that. I think he showed me pictures when he was a little kid, wearing my jersey and stuff like that – he didn’t wear my jersey, I’m just joking – I mean, I think I knew that just from the time that he … I think when we drafted him, he was like, ‘I wish the Patriots drafted me.’ And I said, ‘Well, that didn’t happen. We, the Titans, drafted you.’ So, I think that there’s the success that this team had in those years when a lot of our players were growing up. It would be easy to root for a lot of players that played for this team in the early 2000s.”

On the fact he had a tumultuous time in Philadelphia, despite the production and success they had, and why he’s confident that won’t happen here:

“Well, I mean, again, whatever happens or comes up, I think that – I can’t say that there’s not going to be things that come up with A.J., with any single player. Right? I think this is a competitive game, highly competitive. Players want to win. Players want to do everything that they can to help their team. They want to make sure that people are on the right page. So I don’t get into a lot of that. I think that what’s the most important is that those things don’t carry into the locker room that they get handled. And you see that all the time on the sidelines. We want to have conversations in a meeting room. We want to have conversations at practice. And sometimes those conversations are animated, but it’s all in the sake of trying to get on the same page and get right. So, again, I don’t know what happened. I’m not trying to figure out what happened in Philadelphia. I’m trying to focus on what’s going to happen here and trying to get him acclimated to what we do and how we do it.”

On the fact there’s been a lot of reporting about him having a degenerative knee condition and the fact he’s obviously comfortable enough to make the trade for him, but if that’s something because of his past history, he gains a little more comfort, and he’ll have to manage this player, though, going forward:

“Well, there’s a lot again, when you get to talk about 90 guys or 91 guys, there’s going to be a different plan for every single guy. And again, I think that looking at the body of work and the availability that he’s been able to have and whether we have to manage him or anybody else, it’s a long season. So, there’ll be things that we’ll have to deal with, and we’ll try to do that accordingly. But, you know, just based on looking at his availability in the games that he’s been able to play in and be there for his team, I think that hopefully leads to future availability.”

On what he knows about A.J. that he hopes we and his teammates learn about him:

“That he loves football, that he cares about his team. I think he is knowledgeable and, again, I think that he doesn’t have to prove anything to anybody. Nobody does. They have to go out there and practice. They have to know what to do. They have to play to a certain identity, and do their job, and focus on that. Nobody needs to do anything that’s outside of what we’ve ever asked any of our players to do and I’m confident that he’ll do that. And, he’s humble. I’m excited to have him get to know our players and our players get to know him and everybody else as we work through the last couple of weeks here.”

On if the plan is for him to play under the contract that he had with the Eagles:

“I mean, he’s been here a day, so I mean, the plan is for him to practice and try to get acclimated. I don’t see anything that would preclude him from doing that. I mean, right now, again, I’m just excited to add the player. I know that the football team is looking forward to having him in practice and get acclimated and whatever that looks like today. So, by all accounts, he’s ready to go.”

On the fact he gave up a first-round pick to get him and if he views this as a win-now move:

“We have to, I mean, we have to win. That’s our job is to win. That’s the job and responsibility and expectations in the National Football League. It’s not to go 4-13 two years in a row, if that’s what you mean.”

On what went into the decision to put Julian Hill on IR:

“Julian won’t be able to play the season. That’s plain and simple. So, devastating, awful. I really enjoyed the person and want to have him around here as much as we possibly can. But just because he wouldn’t be able to play this season. So, that’s just disappointing because of just the impact that he made in a short amount of time with his teammates, and then just the person that he is, the way that he practiced. And, so again, we want Julian to be a part of us as much as possible. He’s just not going to do that on the field this year.”

On if that was something that happened in practice:

“That was something that happened in practice, yes.”

On if A.J. already took his physical, and if he passed it and if so, what does he expect from his participation today:

“Yep. A.J. passed the physical and will be out there in some capacity. We’ll have to monitor it just because he hasn’t been with us. And so I think it’s important that that we do that, but also important that he be out there and kind of see how we do things. I’m sure there’s 32 different stretching routines and 32 different individuals and, kind of where everything goes and I think that’s an important process too. And hopefully he can know enough to line up and take some snaps in some of the team periods as well.”

On the fact A.J. lined up wide 88% of the time, I believe it was last year with the Eagles, and he mentioned the intelligence, and if he sees him as more of an X in their system or more of a chess piece?

“Well, I mean, I think all the guys right now are going to learn a lot of the different positions. I think that the ones that have been here, that’s how Todd [Downing]’s tried to install the offense, is to know what each player has on each concept and learn it that way. And I would imagine that A.J. would do the same and give the guys the ability to line inside of Kyle [Williams] or line outside and use Romeo [Doubs] inside. So I think to try to just— right now he’s going to have to learn one position, and I would imagine that’s going to be outside. But as that grows, I know that that will be across the board. And I think that that’s hopefully something that he’s looking forward to do. But you have to learn one before you can learn them all.”

On the event with Drake [Maye] the other day, what was it like to just see the team come together in that way and show support, and also kind of have that little competitiveness, but also just the camaraderie of a team”

“Well, I think it just speaks volumes to Drake and Ann-Michael [Maye], just the people that they are, to organize something like that for the fans, and where it was, and the amount of families that were out there. That’s 10,000 people. And I would say most of them were families. The support that he got from the players, and I could imagine when they saw that it may rain, that guys could have bailed on them. And I think it was just an amazing night, a fun night, a little bit of competitive— some guys that I thought were better at softball. Marcus Jones played a hell of a second base, and, I was pretty impressed. And I think the guys had a good time, and it was for a great cause.”

On if his competitiveness came out:

“No, I was not. I was trying to coach, and the umpires were not interested in any of our replays that we thought … at that point in time it was 7-0. I was like, ‘We have to try to keep this thing close,’ and they didn’t want to try to do that. So just having fun, and it was great to see Gonzo [Christian Gonzalez] and everybody else that came to support Drake and Ann-Michael.”

On the fact he’s known about AJ for quite some time now, and at what point did he know that this was a move that they wanted to make:

Well, I think there were conversations early on and then, you know, those stalled and had to wait. And then Eliot texted me yesterday afternoon, sometime after 4 o’clock, that it got done. And I said, ‘Great job. Thank you. And when’s he coming in?'”

On the fact that with the addition of Romeo and AJ, obviously some guys in that wide receiver room won’t get the same amount of opportunities as last year, and if he feels like he’ll need to communicate with those guys about that or just let it play out in practice:

“Well, practice is critical. I think the opportunities that everybody gets are going to be earned. And I think that there’s a spot for everybody. I think that guys are … give us reasons to give them opportunities. They create their own opportunities. And so I can’t predict the future. I don’t know what that means. I know that I’m excited about the different versatility and the different skill sets that we have. And guys are continuing to improve. Kyle, there was maybe a drop yesterday that led to an interception and a quick conversation with Kyle just saying, ‘Hey, listen, that’s the first quarter. There’s nothing we can do about it. And hope the defense held them to a field goal.’

“Shortly thereafter, [he] was able to create a 60-yard touchdown and make a hell of a catch. And those are— that’s why you practice, and that’s why you try to script the practices as similar to a game as you possibly can. It’s a long game. There’s going to be mistakes that happen early on in the game. It’s how we respond to them. And it was really good to see Kyle do that. So there’s a lot of guys in there that are working hard, and hopefully Drake just throws to whoever’s open.

On the fact there appears to be a The contract situation involving Christian Gonzalez, and if he’s hoping or working toward resolving that so he sees him at minicamp and down the road:

“Well, I think that there’s, the contract is the business and the professional side of this. The personal side, I don’t want to let anything interfere with that. I want Christian to be ready when he comes back. And I would imagine that he would be here next week. And, if he is, then we’ll coach him and be ready to move on and get him ready and get him ready to help us, and help himself.”

“Contracts are part of professional sports. I understand that. But I also know that those should remain private. And, like any contract, you want to make sure [it’s] a negotiation that everybody feels like they get something out of it. And I’ll leave it at that.”

“Thank you.”

(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.)

About Ian Logue

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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