TRANSCRIPT: Mike Vrabel's Press Conference 7/27

Here’s what New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel had to say ahead of the start of training camp on Monday, July 27, 2026.

On how Taylor [Swift]’s wedding was:

“It was good. Thank you. It was a fairy tale. Or whatever she says in that song. But thanks for asking. You a fan of hers?”

Yeah.

“Okay, good.”

Now that Gabe Jacas is officially in the fold, I know he’s on the NFI, but do you anticipate him being actively taking part anytime soon?

“I mean, again, we talked about this before that we were going to evaluate him. We’re going to see where he’s at. This is all part of the process. This is— we would do this with any player who had some extended time away or had had surgery in the offseason, just like the other guys. And so I’m again cautiously optimistic that he’ll work his way through the return to play and, and we’ll get him back out there.”

On the fact there have been a couple of different reports that they are shopping Kayshon Boutte, that he would prefer to play elsewhere, and if that’s something that he felt the need to address with him, or how does he navigate that situation:

“Well, I got a lot of respect for Kayshon, and we went through this last offseason. He had a great offseason, and he had a good training camp, and that played out during the season. He was a large part of our success, and his communication through this offseason with Todd [Downing] and myself. He’s a pro. He understands what his job is, and he’s gotten off to a good start. So I’ve got a lot of respect for him for the way that he’s handled all these different situations and the conversations outside of here and the noise that doesn’t affect his performance on the field.”

On if there were any offseason award winners:

“We did, and I probably failed to mention that just the other day, but it was a good showing by the second-year group. Kyle Williams, Elijah Ponder, Jared Wilson, and Will Campbell. So that’s really good to see from a second-year group. We had a lot of really good efforts in there, and I thought guys made strides, but it was good to see those guys from year one to year two be able to help us establish something in the offseason.”

On how Caleb Lomu is acclimating in his first time in the NFL:

“Well, I mean, there’s a lot of new things, a lot of firsts out there and things that show up. Got him, try to get him some jumbo tight end work, and he’ll play some tackle, he’ll play some guard. We’re just going to look at some versatility and see where he fits and how he can help us. But there’ll be a lot of things that are going to be new to him and some techniques that are different and run schemes and pass protection. He’s a willing participant. He’s a willing learner. He learns quick. He usually doesn’t make the same mistake twice.”

On the fact some of the details of Gabe [Jacas]’s contract have leaked out, and there’s an injury waiver for his left knee, which seems unusual, and if that’s something the club was aware of when he was drafted back in April:

“Well, I think the one thing is I’m not going to talk about specific contracts or the details with the contract. The most important thing is, is that Gabe’s here and that we’re all on the same page and that we’re excited to move forward with Gabe. And tried to explain to him that again, with everything in this business in professional sports, we’ve talked about that there’s a professional side, and there’s a personal side. And he had to deal with the professional side much earlier than some other players in their careers and things that we have to deal with as, as coaches at this level. And then when they’re here, it’s our job to get them ready and help them improve.”

On with A.J. Brown coming in when he did, if there was any kind of additional onboarding or work with coaches that he had to do to get him up to speed, or a guy of his stature:

“Well, there’s a lot there to unpack as a receiver. Especially if you want to move around and you don’t want to just line up in one spot. There’s a lot there. So, A.J. worked really hard with, with Todd and, his position coach, and they’ll continue to do that. We have a lot of walkthroughs and things like that that help them get acclimated to how we move players around. So I think he’ll have plenty of time through training camp and everything that we’re going to do to, to make sure that he’s where he needs to be and it’s the same thing when we sign a receiver, in training camp. You look at Kobe Prentice, and he’s trying to do the same thing, and he’s trying to figure something out so that he can be evaluated.”

On what kind of growth has he seen from Eli Raridon since he came in the spring:

“Well, again, Eli, new offense, new scheme, new NFL. Capable, willing learner. We’ll see when pads come on. Things change, but I think he’s tried to play with the speed that we felt like he had and may not always have shown. And sometimes with the younger players, it’s, ‘hey, let’s go play and push the envelope and let’s play faster and almost to the point of out of control. And then we can coach the details and dial you back and, really to just to understand the speed of this game at this level.’ And sometimes they try to be right, and trying to be right, they don’t play as fast. And so not that I’ve given some of these young guys a free pass to make mistakes, but it’s— we can coach mistakes. We can’t coach you to play faster.”

On the fact that after they Antonio Gibson last year, they cycled through a handful of different guys at kick returner, and what he thinks about the group now coming into the season, and if there’s been anyone who’s maybe distinguished themselves over the course of the spring and the summer:

“It’s really hard. We didn’t spend a whole lot of time on kickoff return. It’s a critical play, which we will spend a lot of time going forward. But, you’re right, that has to be somebody that we can find that can help us create field position and makes teams think about, kicking off to us or, putting the ball in the end zone and giving it to us at the 35 because we have a real weapon there. And, you saw the impact that Marcus made for us in the return game. When we could force teams to punt last year and the difference that that made in a lot of games. It’s just, we’ll continue to cycle through and, take a look at some of these receivers, but also look at some of these running backs that can kind of help us.”

On the fact he mentioned the other day calling a lot of zone block stuff, non-padded practice. When he’s scripting the pass plays for these practices, if he’s trying to marry those same concepts, specifically the play action, or what’s the thing:

“Yeah, we are. It’s just some of the play action you have to get into the blocks a little bit more. And we do. It’s just, I think some of that stuff marries a little better when we have pads on. And I think as you bring up practice, today is going to look very different than some of the other days that we have. We’re in more of like a walkthrough, jog-through day. This is our third day of what we would call speed, or this is our fourth day. Excuse me. We had the run test, which obviously is a speed, 2 days of practice. And then just from a load management standpoint, trying to take today as a walkthrough or a jog through. So I don’t want you guys to be caught off guard. I know there was probably some questions or conversations about that last year, that this is something that we feel like can help us be able to learn and still develop and install it at different paces. And it was good for us last year. And if we can handle that, then hopefully we can continue with this. And, when we work, we work. I think you guys noticed that. And then being able to come out there today and still act like a professional football team and take care of the details and some of the technique, but just at a different pace.

On the fact that prior to trading for A.J., there was a lot made of a potential knee condition for him. You had him in minicamp, you had him through 2 days of training camp. I know it’s still early, but physically—

“I mean, I think a lot of things get fabricated, and people tell stories. We didn’t … what other teams think or thought. We’re very confident in where he’s at physically. He’s done every single thing. Will he do every single thing? Nope. He’ll have time where, or me or Frank or Jim, or us as a group decide that, just like Morgan yesterday, just like Reggie yesterday, there’ll be things. But I think he’s gotten off to a really good start, both mentally and physically, and acclimating himself to his team.”

On the fact that when he was at Tennessee, there was a lot of turnover at kicker, punter, long snapper…

“Yeah, we didn’t make enough kicks. So if we make kicks, we’ll have the same kicker.”

How important is it to have the same group of—

“It’s important that we make all our field goals, and it’s important that we’re able to change field position and get the ball off. You have to protect for those guys. But obviously, having Andy make the type of, big kicks that he made last year and, we felt very comfortable having him back. And, Bryce is such a— just a calming piece for Andy and then does a nice job. And, really we want our punters to be great holders and excellent at +50 punts. If we punt, we want them to be Plus 50. that means we’re moving the football and giving me a decision whether we’re going to go for it on fourth down or we’re going to punt. So, again, we can’t take those guys for granted. And the reason, when they do their job, you never hear about them.”

“So appreciate it, guys. 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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