Here’s what New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel had to say ahead of the start of training camp on Saturday, July 25, 2026.
On the fact there’s a history of teams who lose in the Super Bowl struggling the following year, and if he did any research, homework, call any coaches who had to deal with that to kind of navigate:
“I think it kind of speaks for itself. I think that expectations always get higher, and we have tried to lay out the expectations when we got here and what we wanted to do. And I think just the nature of the NFL based on success, the rules, the draft, the schedule, all those things that come into it. And it’s our job is to recreate the things that we did really well last year, the culture, the ability to win different ways and find ways to win and understand how to win and understand how to prepare. We’re going to have a more difficult journey. That’s just how it goes each and every year. That’s what we’re expecting. So we want it that way and we’ll prepare accordingly.”
On the fact that when he was a player, his teams were very good at putting whatever they did the year before away and creating a completely new environment and knowing that they haven’t won anything, and if he gets a sense that this team is like that, that they could forget about last year and just go finish here:
“Yeah, I think that we have that ability. We try to do that each and every week. That’s not something that we focus on year to year. We try to focus on that each week, each day. We come in, we make corrections, we watch the tape, we try to look at the good, the bad, and the stuff that gets us beat. We talk about eliminating the stuff that gets us beat, being able to fix the things that we didn’t do very well, and trying to enhance the things that we did well. And so that’s not just a yearly approach, that’s a daily approach, that’s a weekly approach. In this league, you have to take that attitude. It’s difficult in this league. So whatever you do on Thursday or Saturday or Sunday, whenever you play, Monday, you’ll have to look at those things. You have to address them and move on quickly. So I felt like we did that last year, even with success. And we’ll start that today.
On watching the fans come running in as they usually do on that first day, it’s going to be jammed out there today, and what does that mean to him and the team:
“Well, the support has been fantastic. And I’ve said this when we all got here, is that we want to, we have a very knowledgeable fan base. They know what good football looks like. They know what bad football looks like. And when we play good football, they support that. They enjoy that. They embrace that. And we were able to do that and give that to them and, in turn, they gave us their support, their energy, everything that we needed, especially in those playoff games down the stretch.”
On over the last year or so, what’s impressed him the most about Elijah Ponder when it comes to his growth and development?
“Just came in, didn’t say a whole lot. He’s not a boisterous person by nature. I think he just continued to get better. His confidence probably improved. It looked like that. He was a more confident player as the season wore on. He earned a role on special teams and then continued to earn a role on defense. I think he just kept getting better.”
On when he thinks about a center and a quarterback working together, what are some of the things he looks for with that chemistry:
“Well, I think just the unspoken communication to be able to see it quickly and see it the same, see it very similar, whether that’s pressure or a defensive front, to be able to set the defense or get us in the right play. Communication, being able to— I think that the center is the conduit to the rest of the offensive line. And so, when the quarterback needs to get something to the line, the center is the easiest way to get it. And then his communication to everybody else has to be great. So, we’re looking forward to seeing Jared [Wilson] and that transition and working with Drake [Maye].”
On if there’s any update on Gabe Jacas’ contract situation:
“No, not today. Not with Gabe, not yet. Not from when we met yesterday.”
On if he’s local to the team:
“I do not think that Gabe is local. I don’t think that he’s in New England.”
On how excited he is about the new guys getting started, AJ, Reggie Gilliam, all of them:
“Well, I mean, we’ve seen their, I guess, acclimation into our team and our program. So not just excited about them, I’m excited about everybody to be out there in a training camp mode and just have it ramp up from where we were in minicamp. But certainly those additions that we made, we felt, all felt really good about them and excited that they’re here. And I know that they’re going to do everything that they can to help us win and help us prepare to win.”
On which situations they’ll be emphasizing today and how will things in the non-padded section be different from what they worked on in the spring:
“Well, we’ll have— it’ll be a few more runs. There’ll be a few more runs. we have to get into that. We have to be able to practice without pads on. admittedly, there’ll be more zone runs, to take away some of those, double teams that you have and some of the gap scheme runs. We’ll save pads for that. I don’t think it necessarily does us any good to install those runs and then work on them and maybe not have the right technique because we don’t have pads on and we’re trying to take care of a guy. So why waste, a rep when you can’t use the right technique just because you don’t have pads on? So there’ll be some of that with the outside zone. We’ll work on first and second down. We’ll have tempo. We try to talk to the players about practicing the same way that we want to play. You’ll see everybody off on the sideline and subs will be running in. But if we hit a play, I reserve the right to go on the ball, as long as we’re not subbing. Those are things that happen. If an offensive player comes onto the field and we want to go fast, they’re going to stand over it. So I explained that to the players, explained that to the coaches. But we want to practice right now, starting today, the same way that we’re going to look to play. And we’ll continue to add as we move on and get into third down and get into the red zone, 2-minute, short yardage. And then at some point in time, there’ll be a ‘call it,’ period once we get the first week installed, and we’ll go out and not have a script, and I’ll just say whatever situation we have.”
Inaudible
“Yeah, I mean, I think that the defense has added some things. And so that’ll come naturally, I think, just from the looks that he’s getting there. Just continue to try to operate and get us and be more urgent and get everybody just functioning just a little bit quicker. And we don’t want to go fast. We want to just, whether we huddle or we go on the ball, whatever that looks like, to be able to try to dictate the defense a little bit and not just – the urgency in which we operate, I think, is something that we’ve all talked about. The communication, always taking care of the ball. We talked about the games that we lost last year, whether that was the quarterback rating. Josh Allen had a better rating than Drake, and that’s just not on the quarterback. That’s defensively, our ability to affect their quarterback, our ability to help our quarterback whether it was the Pittsburgh game where the turnover margin wasn’t where we needed it to be. That’s the reason that we lost that game. and obviously in the Super Bowl, the turnover margin and their ability to run the football and our ability not to be able to run the football. And then we get into all the different, critical situations, 2-minute, 5-minute, Buffalo being able to set the table a little better on special teams. Their kickoff return was much better than ours was. So those are all things that we look at and, that we’re going to focus on and that’s how we want to practice and that’s how we want to play.”
On with [Harold Landry] starting on PUP, if that’s something that he thinks could threaten his availability for the start of the season:
“Soph [reporter Sophie Weller], if I could, I couldn’t, I’m not going to predict that. I’m not going to pretend to predict that. And I think when he’s ready, we’re going to talk about injuries that are going to happen there. 100% in football. At some point in time, everybody’s going to get hurt. The expectation is that they all work extremely hard to get back, that they’re where they’re supposed to be when they’re supposed to be there. They focus on what they can do as opposed to what they can’t do. Very comfortable and confident in our return to play. So where Harold’s at at the start of the season, I wouldn’t be able to tell you right now. I know that he won’t be practicing, but he’ll be working and hopefully we’ll get him back.”
On the fact that there were a lot of clips last year during the spring and summer that the team released where he was pushing Drake to be more of a leader, ‘Go interact with your guys, go celebrate,’ do those things, and how has he seen him grow in that regard? And if he feels like he’s going to have to still maybe push him in that direction:
“I mean, I’m probably going to try to coach everything that I possibly can. That’s what they pay me to do, is to coach the team where I see and if I just, if we don’t celebrate, I’ll be telling them to run down there and celebrate, even though, we scored a few touchdowns last year. Don’t take those for granted. And again, it’s really hard. I can try to put myself in his position or any player’s position that I’m coaching. There’s a lot on his plate and he’s focusing about, doing the right thing and being as perfect as he can be and puts a lot on himself. And, then it’s like, ‘oh yeah, I just threw a touchdown.’ But it’s like, ‘no, like we’re going to go celebrate.’ And there’s, I think you can really define yourself as a leader by how you handle yourself and your teammates when things aren’t great. And it’s easy to go celebrate, but is it— it’s harder to stand up there and say, ‘you know what, I screwed up. I might have made a mistake in the huddle, which caused another player not to do his job. And I was able to adjust for my mistake in the huddle or miscommunication, but this other player had something else in his mind and that led him to go the wrong way.’ And, when you stand up and say, ‘You know what, that’s on me,’ it takes a lot of pressure off everybody else. So excited about where Drake’s going to be and his, just his growth and Josh and Ashton and, just the offensive coaches where everybody’s in just a better position. But, just because we’re more comfortable, that doesn’t mean that we can’t— we still have to go, and we have to push each other. And, the challenge is to compete but take care of each other when we’re out there on the practice field.”
On what does having almost complete continuity from year 1 to year 2 maybe enable them to do this summer that they couldn’t do last summer:
“Probably just operate a little quicker, just going through the tape probably a little quicker for the coaches. And then, being able to get on, make the corrections look at the positives, and then, move on to the installation in the afternoon. We have a pretty similar schedule most every day where we’ll practice and then give the players a little break for them to get treatment or lift and recover, whatever they need. And then we’ll meet and then we’ll have walkthrough and then get them out of here. So that’s kind of how we’ve structured things. And I think everybody’s a little bit more comfortable with that stuff.”
On the fact AJ Brown is still relatively new to the team, and how he is looking, and how he is fitting in so far:
“I mean, we did the run test, so he passed that, which was expected. I couldn’t, again, I enjoy having AJ here. I really love him personally and he’s going to help our football team. But we’re going to go out there today, and we’re going to build, and he’s going to be involved in some plays, and then we’ll go from there. But he’s had a great attitude and a willingness to learn. A completely new system in a short amount of time.”
On the fact he’s talked about culture and relationships since he got here and with so many new players coming this year, what part of like the culture does he expect to see the returning players to carry over from last year, and what does he expect those new players to contribute this year:
“Well, again, we’ve always talked about having a singular mindset on winning and what our identity needs to be. And then the personalities, there’s going to be different personalities. And our job and my job is to find out where everybody’s sweet spot is and where their optimal performance is and their attitude. Some guys are going to be sky high. Some guys are going to be a little bit more even keel, and that’s fine. But that’s what makes it a great experience and makes it a team, is that everybody’s different. They come from different places. But we’re going to have one goal and try to build one identity.
On the fact there’s a couple of BC guys on the roster now. You drafted Q, you signed Jeremiah, and what is he hoping to see from them, and what he liked coming out of college?
“Well, I mean, again, I got a lot of respect for Billy O [Bill O’Brien] at Boston College, and Jeremiah is somebody we had at local day. We looked at him a lot and the numbers were, probably not in his favor at the time. And then now I think they’re a little bit more favorable and we’re able to bring him in. I think he’s continued to improve and look like he’d been working out. I think he’s gotten stronger since, since March. And certainly with Q is, somebody on the edge, always looking for young pass rushers that can help you. And, those guys will have to learn special teams pretty quickly given their body types and that process has already started for Q, and Jeremiah will start that today.”
“Thanks, guys.”
(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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