Here’s what New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel had to say during his press conference on Tuesday, June 9, 2026 ahead of the team’s Mandatory Minicamp:
On if during the stretch of the offseason program and the workouts, if he’s already seen some growth in Drake Maye, and if so, how so:
“Yeah, I mean, I think we’ve seen growth in a lot of players and especially some of the younger ones, which I would consider Drake going into his third year, one of those younger players and I think that Josh [McDaniels] and Ashton [Grant] have given him some really positive things to work on, some areas of focus and being able to try to limit mistakes at the line of scrimmage, right? Get us in the best play. And not that we’re going to be perfect, but being able to use every resource that we have to get us into the right play and be able to give us an option to have a positive play. Whether they’re pressuring or they’re in a look that isn’t advantageous to the play. And we don’t want to be tentative, so there’s a fine line of that. But I think expanding some of that into the second year of the system has been good to see here in the spring.”
On if he has anything to report attendance-wise or anything like that, and if everybody is here that he needs here:
“Everybody under contract is here and accounted for. So, as it relates to practice, everybody will have a different plan at practice. And some guys will be full, some guys will be limited. Some guys will work on the lower field, but it’s been a good day, and it’s much better than yesterday when they weren’t here. It’s been a great day to have everybody back and, coach and teach and move into the red zone, which is so critical, which is somewhere where we struggled defensively except for the playoffs, which I think the big reason of why we were able to get to where we got to offensively. Just too many negative plays and turnovers. So did a lot of good things offensively, just pretty, pretty average in the red zone.”
On if Gabe [Jacas] is part of that group that’s here:
“He’s not part of that group that’s here. So great question.”
On if he attributes his absence to the fact last year we saw a rise in second-round picks hold out until they sign their contract, and if he attributes it to that…
“I don’t attribute to anything other than – he’s not here and that he’s not under contract at this current time. So I don’t want to say that there’s a reason for it other than that’s what it is right now.”
On if he’s dealing with anything physical:
“Again, he had a procedure and he’s not under contract.
On the fact he was on the practice field this spring and, how much, if at all, has he had a chance to kind of work with him a little bit:
“With Gabe?
Yeah.
“Not at all. We’ve talked and communicated and met him numerous times before the draft process, but not on the grass.”
On if that’s been frustrating for him that he hasn’t been able to:
“No, it hasn’t. Not one bit. I’ve been excited to work with the players here and have learned that there’s only so many things that you can control and excited about the development of the guys in that room, ones that have been here that, you know, are going into their second year or the ones that we drafted or the ones that we signed in the post-draft or the ones that we signed in free agency.”
On how far behind will he be by this time:
“I don’t— I mean, I don’t know. You know what I mean? So, I know that we were here for 8 weeks and 10, 11 OTAs or whatever that is. You know what I mean? I don’t know. Can’t— can’t say, won’t say. I don’t think that’s fair to anybody.”
On the fact Harold Landry was still doing some rehab and where he’s at physically at this point:
“Again, Harold’s played a lot of football. And so we just have to try to – this is all part of everyone has a little different plan. I think you guys understand that, having spent a year with us and kind of how we operate. So he’s very involved, very heavily involved in the meetings and the workouts and in a leadership role. And for him to take reps right now in the spring, I feel like is unnecessary. And, we’ll just keep working to make sure that he’s ready to go when we need him.”
On the fact he referenced some of the younger guys who have been here, and his thoughts specifically about Bradyn [Swinson] and Elijah [Ponder], how they’ve done with maybe the added opportunities they’ve gotten over the course of the spring:
“Well, I think physically they both have worked really hard with Frank and his group and the time that they spent away from here, however long that was, that was evident when they came back. I just think from a maturity, from getting stronger and being better conditioned and those things really stood out. And I think that through the course of the 8 or 9 weeks that that’s become evident on the field as well.”
On guys who missed OTAs, if he speaks to them about why they missed OTAs, or if he just moves on at this point now that the team is in minicamp:
“No, those are voluntary. I mean, I talk to most of the players all the time. There’s communication. Whether they’re here or they’re not. So again, there’s multiple reasons on our team and across the league of why guys wouldn’t be at a voluntary workout and just coach them when they get here. That’s usually the best plan of attack.”
On having Christian Gonzalez back and just how have conversations gone with him as he tries to negotiate for a new extension:
“Good. Conversations have been great. Talked to him about his event last week, talked to him about normal things that we talk about. And then … but it’s good to have everybody back in here that, that either was here last week or that wasn’t. It’s just good to have almost a complete football team here and excited to keep working.”
On when it comes to nose tackle, he had Kyhris Tonga in that role last year. Corey Durden, [the media] spoke with him last week, he kind of said he anticipates filling that role and moving into that spot. What has he seen from him this offseason, and is that a role he anticipates him filling:
“Well, I don’t want to fill any role right now. I think that that will be an opportunity for Corey. And by saying that, I’m excited for Corey. I’m excited that we had a full offseason with him, that we’ll have a full training camp with him. He came in and quickly earned the confidence of the coaching staff and his teammates and had a great play demeanor. And so I’m happy for his ability to be able to help us last year.”
“But again, that has to all be played out in training camp. And there’s other young guys and, Lenny T [Leonard Taylor] and Josh Farmer and [Eric] Gregory and everybody else, that those are all— it’s a good group. And I’m excited. And I know the defensive coaches are excited about working with those guys too. So, just having him in the system another year and being able to coach him in the offseason and coach him at training camp, hopefully, will only help. But he did a lot of good things for us last year.”
On when they drafted Gabe Jacas, if he knew he was going to need a procedure when the team drafted him:
“Again, he just had to have a procedure and he’s not under contract. We’re excited about Gabe, the person that he is, the play style, his production in college, and all that. And so when that gets resolved, we’ll have him in here and we’ll coach him. And I’m sure we’ll find a way for him to help our football team.”
On if he’s involved with the negotiations with Gonzalez at this moment:
“I don’t— I’m not involved with the negotiations. I’m involved with coaching this team.”
On if there’s any update with that:
“Nothing to add. I mean, he’s still under his, I don’t think there’s anything, you know, to report. I’ll say that.”
On how things are with Kayshon Boutte right now and if he’s expected to participate fully here:
“I don’t know if he’ll participate fully just because I don’t think that’s fair to him to just say, ‘Hey, go run 20 reps.’ Again, I think that part of this is about evaluating where guys are, getting them reacclimated to what the new stuff is that we’re putting in the red zone. And then based on how he does and looks, I think that that could certainly change. But, again, we want to be smart with everybody that we have. And for the guys that we haven’t seen, I think it’s only right to make sure that they’re where everybody else is based on how we practice.”
On if he’s also expecting Christian [Gonzalez] to be limited for the same reason:
“Yeah, I would say just like everybody else, everybody has a plan, and I got to make sure that everybody’s working and getting what they need to get.”
On, now that A.J. [Brown]’s been here for a week, how everything is going:
“I think, good. I think the weekend probably served him well to be able to take a deep breath and get some rest. I’m sure it was – been a whirlwind for him, but he’s excited about learning the system and eventually moving around and doing different things. But I think it’s been great just having him around and just continuing to integrate himself into our football team.”
On the fact he mentioned at the combine asking the coaches to come up with some new ideas when you guys reconvened and what have they tried to achieve or unlock defensively, and if he’s pleased with the progress there:
“You mean from the defensive side of the ball?”
Yes.
“I mean, I think you’re always just looking, you know, spring is a time where the touchdowns don’t count and the sacks don’t count. And so, I think you try to figure out different blitzes and disguises and, I appreciate what everybody brought to the table and the ideas that they had in all the phases of first and second down and the things that we try to add on third down and then really try to shore up the red zone. So the spring is a time where you evaluate the stuff that you try to come up with and what it may look like or what the issues are. And then as you get closer to training camp, some of that may get pared down.”
On the fact he mentioned red zone efficiency. In terms of the personnel that they brought in in the offseason, both on the offensive and defensive side of the ball, how much of a focus was how good they are in the red zone in terms of bringing guys in:
“Well, it’s a critical area. It’s a critical situation. We were 5th in red zone drives offensively, but unfortunately, we were middle of the pack. And too many negative plays, too many turnovers. Almost half of our turnovers were in the red zone. So that hurts you there. And then defensively, just, you have to be on body. You have to be tight coverage. Making sure teams don’t run the football in on you and just understanding how critical every yard is and being great tacklers and communicating all the motions and the pre-snap motions and different routes, the combinations that they have.”
On a bigger scale, what is he looking for his team that he can rely on, that can tell him the foundation he built last year is solid enough and not risking a rebuild:
“Well, I mean, I think that that’s probably not going to— I don’t know if that happens during the spring. I think we can still focus on, on the things that we think are important for our identity and how we want to win football games and how we want to prepare. But really, a lot of that comes in training camp and being able to, to callus yourself through some of the rigors of the season. So as we continue to build that foundation and how we work and how we practice, against each other is going to be something that’s critical. And that’s how you improve in training camp that some of those battles that you have in training camp give you a lot of confidence going into the season.”
On what he’s seen from Lan Larison and how he’s grown from last year, especially overcoming [his injury]:
“He worked really hard, and just to work through the injury and work through and just continue to get stronger and give himself another opportunity going into training camp. So mentally, he’s not a rookie. I think just the experience probably may seem somewhat new to him again when we get to training camp. But, as a player that’s trying to find a role on special teams, and you’re right, it is hard to, half the battle for the backs is being able to identify where the pressure is coming from, what their blitz pickup is and then there’s really not much of a blitz pickup – everybody kind of stops once they get there. So he’s done a good job with that. A lot of that will come with the pads and whether they can break tackles and pick up pressure.”
(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.
