TRANSCRIPT: Mike Vrabel Press Conference 8/19

Here’s the full transcript of what New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel had to say during his press conference on Wednesday, August 19, 2026, ahead of the team’s first joint practice against the Philadelphia Eagles.

On how much of a measuring stick, given where they’re at in training camp, will these two practices be for him:

“Well, I mean, I think they’ll be— Yeah, I mean, I think that this is intentional. This is a very good football team. It has been for quite some time. Really good at the line of scrimmage big physical lines of scrimmage. Certainly an excellent quarterback. They’re well coached. Good defensive scheme. So I think this would be a really good measuring stick just to see where we’re at at this point in camp and how we can respond. There’s going to be some good plays and we’re going to have to make some adjustments really quickly and then try to keep our competitive stamina throughout the day.

On how he regulates – it’ll be emotional out there – things staying under control:

“The same way we always try to. We have to play a certain style, and so do they, and we have to get back to the huddle, and we have to figure out what our job is for the next play and not spend a whole bunch of time in sidebars and side actions and try to play to the whistle and then get back to the huddle. And that’s what we want to do. That’s how we want to play the football game. That’s how we have to practice the game.”

On if he expects these 2 days to be emotional or A.J. Brown specifically:

“I mean, Milt played there. A.J. played there. I mean, I think these guys are professionals, and they’ve shown that they want to practice for us, and I’m sure there’s some added feelings for them, but I’m not going to try to explain what those are. Those are their feelings. And again, they’re part of our team. We’re really excited to have both of those guys. And they’ve practiced hard, whether it was against us or against the Colts. I’m sure we’ll see great efforts from both of them today against the Eagles.”

On his thoughts after adding [offensive lineman] Greg Van Roten:

“Well, I mean, he started every game for 3 years. He’s played interior offensive line. It’s something where, after the game, coming out of here, where we needed to strengthen that with a proven player and somebody that I think has got experience in what we do and the terminology from Josh [McDaniels] a few years ago and then [Brian Daboll] the last couple years. So somebody that we felt like that could help us.”

On the fact he spoke the other day about evaluating the run game, and how important are these joint practices in live action compared to even some of the preseason games:

“I mean, I think we’ll see a little bit more. There’ll be different run defenses or run pressures, or what we’ll have to see today may be different than the game. But I think we also have to be smart. We have to be able to run our offense, and if it’s a bunch of guys up there, then we won’t. But traditionally, Philly and Vic’s defense, these guys are really good at the line of scrimmage. They’re great with their technique and the way that they play blocks and the way that they shed and the way that the secondary comes in and supports. So, it will be a good test. This is not normally a defense that gives up a whole lot of yards in a run game.”

On if he’s seen Milton Williams expand his role this offseason:

“I think that Milt just is continuing to be comfortable, and he’s – I think, yes, I think he has. It’s just in his own way and how he reaches people, but also by being out there every day and the way that he practices and his tempo and his energy, I think can be somewhat contagious, and his ability to chase plays. We talked about that so many times last year when you’d look, and unfortunately it’s a 20-yard game, but it’s Milt making a big hit, chasing the ball, whether that be in New Orleans or Tennessee. And those things I think can be infectious to the defense.”

On the fact he mentioned Philly being good for a good number of years now, and if there’s something he’s come to maybe from afar, admire about what they’ve built or just what his impression is:

“Well, sustained success in the National Football League is tough. It’s difficult. We know that the system’s not set up for that. And I think they’ve drafted well. They’ve retained their players. They found a franchise quarterback. And I think that that’s a good place to start. And when you can draft well and you can develop players and, get him re-signed and then find a quarterback that leads your football team. That’s a good place to start.”

On the fact on Monday, he decided to keep one-on-ones for that entire team, and if he can explain the reasoning behind that and why he decided to have it be right there in the middle of the field, watching:

“Well, I think just trying to put some of these guys into positions to compete in front of their teammates. I think that’s always critical as a young player is being able to go out there and compete and do that in front of the veteran players that have been there. And I go back to 1997 and covering a kickoff and having guys like Dermontti Dawson and Levon Kirkland and Greg Lloyd say, “Hey, that’s a hell of a job,” and how that made me feel at the time. And so I try to explain to our veteran players the impact that they can have, whether that’s in games that they’re not playing in or at practice or when a player’s in a competitive situation and whether you support them or find ways to encourage them. I think that’s important.”

On seeing what AJ can do on the field, and what he’s seen from him in the building in terms of leadership since he’s been here:

“I just— yeah, it’s funny just not being around him day to day for whatever years it was from Tennessee to Philly, now here. Just a maturity, an overall maturity, the way that he communicates with coaches, the way he communicates with players. I would say overall maturity. So he’s accountable. He gets mistakes corrected. I mean, you can coach him hard. Todd can coach him hard. Josh can coach him hard. You know, he wants to do well for the entire offense, and he wants to be a contributor.”

On where [Harold] Landry and [Brenden] Schooler are:

“They’re here. They’re rehabbing. They’re working through the return to play, and where they are for week 1, they won’t be out there today. So that’s the only update I can give you. They won’t play in the game this week, and I think they’re just continuing to work to try to get there. And when they get there, obviously they’ll be there.”

On if there are any other guys we shouldn’t expect to see in these physical practices:

“Practice is physical. I don’t know why – I mean, again, we— I hope we practice physical whether the Eagles are here or the Patriots are here. But it would be the same group of people. I think Gonzo won’t be available today. Kyle Dixon, Riley Wilson, and Barmore will do some third-down stuff, some pass-rush stuff as he’s working his way back – try to limit some of his reps. Ellis may be limited in some of his reps. Ben Brown, obviously. So there’ll be a few guys.”

On the fact there are two joint practices plus two preseason games in the next 9-day span, and how does he manage the starters’ competitive chance and also managing their workload, and if he plans it like as a whole or just evaluate day by day:

“I think the biggest thing is to be able to be flexible and adjust day by day to see where that is. But I know today will be a lot of good work and then we’ll see where we are when we get into the red zone tomorrow. And then have to make a decision what that looks like for the game and all those things. So we have a plan for today, and then we’ll see what that looks like and see how much work guys get, and then we’ll go from there.”

On training camp fights, what his messaging is to his team going into a joint practice about training camp fights:

“I mean, I’ve been through this. It hasn’t changed. I mean, we have to practice a certain way. We have to be able to control our emotions. We try to ask them to go to the line and play a certain style and try to create an identity. Have to be able to come back and be involved. I get it, it’s emotional. We can say, ‘It’s football.’ Fighting isn’t football. Fighting gets you thrown out of a game. We’ve seen that before. That happens. They’re not afraid to call in from New York. They’ve changed the rule this year. So even if an official misses a flag or misses a punch and New York happens to see it, that player can be removed from the football game. So we know how critical each and every player is for the team on game day. We don’t have that many spots. There’s guys that play they start here, but they’re backups at other positions. So if you lose those players, ultimately that hurts the team. So we would try not to do anything like that.”

On, even with the change of the rule, there seems to be fighting still and as a former player, why he thinks it keeps happening:

“Well, I mean, we have emotional, competitive, grown adult football players, and that sometimes happens, and we try to get it fixed as quickly as possible and get on. We got to practice here.”

On if he likes the way that Andy Borregales has responded this week after his performance on Thursday:

“Yeah, I think so. And again, we— I don’t want to make excuses, but we we were trying to take a look at another snapper. Andy was dealing with something, so we felt like it’d be a good opportunity to take a look at another snapper. And you just understand how critical that operation is. The snap, the laces, all the other things. And yes, we have to make them. But I felt like to Andy’s credit, he had a great day in front of the team and was able to make the one there at the end. At the end after the 2-minute.”

On what his favorite drill is:

“Favorite drill … I mean, I like we try to do an open field tackling drill. We try to just focus on guys being able to beat people in space. We focus on guys being able to create good angles with the ball carrier coming to balance, not going off the diving board. We were terrible in Miami last year. You guys all know, you guys all reported on it, and we’ve worked hard to improve it. And this is how critical— and there’s so many great athletes in this league with the football, and missed tackles just end up leading to X-plays. So our ability to tackle and our ability to be able to make people miss in open field is going to be something that’s going to be really important. So I think we get something out of that drill. I’ve seen guys improve with that drill. So that has nothing to do with any sort of contact. It’s just about body movement and being able to play balanced and be able to change direction.”

(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.

View all posts by Ian Logue

Tags: Mike Vrabel