TRANSCRIPT: Mike Vrabel Postgame Press Conference 8/27

Here’s what New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel had to say following the Patriots’ 37-13 loss to the Browns Thursday night:

On how he would characterize the defensive effort tonight:

“Not good enough. I mean, that’s, it felt like they, we got a couple sudden change stops, forced them to kick field goals, which I think is always positive. But, I just … not good enough. Couldn’t match the speed of the quarterback in a zone read and some of those things. But we’ll get back to work and figure out who we’re going to get back to work with.”

On the fact he talked about not being a very deep team last wee, and what he saw at quarterback and things like that as he goes about it now as he look forward to the roster:

“We’ll make those decisions tonight, tomorrow morning, over the weekend. And, we’re always going to try to strengthen the roster and find guys and, Eliot [Wolf] and his staff and, everybody included are going to, this process of, it’s a very fluid process. There’s going to be players that are going to be with us and then they’re going to be, maybe picked up by somebody else and they’re going to— we’re going to be looking at other people. We’re 31st in the [waiver] claims. So, I think it’s just about being patient and figuring out, who the right guys are.”

On the fact [the media] hasn’t spoken to him since the Kayshon Boutte trade, and how he made the decision to cut the wide receiver depth:

“It was one place where we do have some depth and, I think for all parties involved, that was probably the best thing. Without injuries, Kayshon probably would have been inactive. Unfortunately, that just, it’s kind of the way it was. It’s just with him not playing special teams. And I’ve tried to thank Kayshon as many times as I could. I texted him again today. Just his maturity, his growth, his ability to put into words last year and share his own personal struggle, but also the growth that he made from that, that’s positively going to affect a lot of people. I know that that wasn’t easy for him to do. And I tell him all the time about how much I respect him for being able to do that.”

On the fact it looked like Ashton [Grant] and Scott Booker were calling plays tonight for you guys, and what went into that decision, and why that was important to him:

“Ashton called them, but Book didn’t call any plays tonight. So he just must’ve been animated on the sidelines, Evan [Lazar]. Just give Ashton an opportunity. Josh has called plenty of games in the National Football League. And we think Ashton is a very, very good young offensive football coach. And I try to look for places to be able to give other coaches opportunities and felt like this was a good time for it.”

On the fact that early in the week he said that he was still deciding whether or not he was going to play the starters during the preseason, and how did he ultimately come to the decision to sit them:

“I just think that it’s best for us right now to try to start next week with the guys that we have. And I know that’s a difficult decision. I don’t think there’s a right or wrong answer. And so we have to just continue to try to prepare the football team the best that we can. And, I just wanted to try to get to the regular season with the guys that we had.”

On how he feels overall, big picture, as he now starts to push to get ready for Seattle September 9th:

“I mean, we got a lot of work to do, like everybody else. And, the new journey, the next step in the journey is now building a team and putting that together here at the end of the cutdown day. And then it’ll be, how can we improve along the way? How do we continue to develop the young players? How do we improve as a football team as the season goes on? And we’re excited to get started. But I also think we need a couple of days here to kind of get away from each other. We’ve been going at this since July 20th, and I think a couple of days may be good for everybody here.”

On the fact [the media] won’t get to speak to him before Sunday, and if he anticipates activating Harold Landry:

“Does that disappoint you or does that excite you that you won’t get to talk to me?”

“No, I think we’ll just continue to see when we get back. Those guys stayed back. Brenden Schooler and Harold both stayed back, and they have to be able to pass certain things because, once you take them off, that’s kind of what it is. And so, we just want to be very careful and smart with them and not force them into anything. But, on the same note that if they can do and relatively perform where we expect them to and where they expect themselves to, that could be a possibility that we could be able to bring those guys off.”

On how difficult Sunday is. He was a player, just a lot of guys out here chasing dreams As he starts to cut down the roster:

“Well, you put a lot of time in with guys, and then you hope that they give you everything that they have. And it’s not easy, but it’s a tough part of this business. You want to try to be as respectful to them. Some of these players that we move on from, we’ll bring back on the practice squad. And I think for the most part, these guys, they gave us everything they had and, we’ll treat them the same way.”

On the fact Christian Gonzalez, for the first time this summer, expressed some frustration about the contract negotiations, and how he would navigate that situation and what his reaction is:

“Well, I don’t have a reaction. I have conversations with Christian, and I understand that this is probably something that’s difficult. I’ve never been in that position to this extent. And, try to treat it with class, but also, him and I communicate and he’s always free – our players are always free to feel how they want to feel. And, you just have to stay patient and hope that we can continue to work to some sort of agreement.”

On the fact he took his team to the Hall of Fame yesterday and Andre Tippett spoke to the team, and what that meant to him:

“Well, I mean, Tippett’s— I’ve known Tippett since 2001. And, I think for a lot of guys, especially me, I haven’t been back to the Hall of Fame since 1998. I played in the game with the Steelers and felt like this was as close as we were going to get. And I think the players really appreciated it, seeing the stuff that they had to offer. We’re appreciative of the Hall of Fame for allowing us to come and treating us so well. And having Tip be there and be able to speak about the fraternity and his career and everything that he did- he’s a great Patriot. And we were glad to be able to honor him in front of our football team, but also have him show us around and be proud of the Hall of Fame.”

(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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