TRANSCRIPT: Mike Vrabel's Press Conference 9/1

Here’s what New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel had to say during his press conference on Monday, September 1st, 2026:

On the fact he’s got the roster down to 53, he’s acquired a few players in the process, and if he feels any better about their depth with those moves:

“Well, it’s, adding, 10, I think, new faces. Up to 10, and that may continue to rise. Those are new guys to work with, but also, we’ve got to get them moving pretty quick. It’s just how we do things, how we practice, and every place is different. You know what I mean? There’s a lot of, there’s 31 other teams and these guys are all coming from somewhere new that they put a lot of time into learning their system and how they do things. And now we just have to ask them, in a short amount of time, to try to figure out how it is that we do things and how we operate and move and function and the flow of this building. So I’m hopeful that that’ll happen. And that those guys will be able to come in and help us and find a role. And we’ll work with them to get them moving.”

On the fact he talked about the roster, but also at the beginning of camp, he discussed the sense of urgency. 8 days now to go, preseason behind them, and what his mindset is and message to the players as they get ready for the opener:

“Well, I mean, we have to continue to build in preparation and make sure there’s a lot left in the tank, that the tank’s full. When we get out there on Wednesday, Wednesday night is when everything has to be ready to go. And, we’ll keep working towards that. But also just be mindful of – I don’t think we can go 7 days straight. that’s not necessarily the idea. So trying to put a practice plan together that allows for the preparation, the speed, and then maybe dial back and then ramp back up again.”

On if there’s any word on captains or how he’ll go through that:

“I’ll tell the team this afternoon at practice here in a little bit. So I’m sure we’ll get it from our social team.”

On if that’s a player vote:

“It’s always been, yeah, for me is, the players are the ones that pick the captains.”

On the fact they claimed 2 players yesterday, waivers, and what he likes about Cameron [Latu] and Darius [Mausau], and what was it about Darius that stood out to him:

“Just guys that have really played NFL games, meaningful football games. Darius has shown the ability to play both spots inside. Zak [Kuhr] had some comfort and some familiarity with him in New York. I was with Cam during my time in Cleveland and really enjoyed kind of getting to know him and being able to work with him and try to help him. And we had some conversations about him last year, and he went on to do some really good things to help Philadelphia. And then, we just thought it’d be a good opportunity to add somebody that has excelled at special teams and also looking to earn a role at tight end.”

On the fact he’s been a part of season openers where the whole— he opened the season 2002 against Pittsburgh, for instance, and what’s different about opening the entire season, if anything and how does he translate it to the guys:

“I mean, obviously that means that you either had a really good season or the people that you’re playing had a really good season. There’ll be a lot of energy there. We’ll have to be ready for the environment, and we’ll have to be really sound in our operation and everything that we do. The magnitude of it is always important. There’s not that many games. Every game is critically important. And, it’ll be a great test and a great challenge for us to be able to go on the road and do that early in the season.”

On how far back did he start working on Seattle, at least in parts, whether it be in the spring or in the summer or where did he sprinkle in things about Seattle in this game:

“Well, I mean, I think you have to be careful how much you do early on. I don’t know how much gets retained, but you try to focus on fundamentals and our offense and what it is that we’re trying to do in all 3 phases. And then, there were times during training camp or times last week that we tried to do stuff. But I think you just have to be careful. It’s the first game. There’s not much- they got a new coordinator, and some things will be different. I’m sure they’ll have some plays that are similar that they like. And I think their defensive structure may be the same. It may not. It’s a good defense. They’re very talented. So, you just have to, I guess, be careful how much you show them and try to focus on what it is that we’re trying to accomplish. And, certainly, we’ll show them plenty and have shown them some.”

On if he’s been watching Hard Knocks with a close eye on tension or anything like that:

“I mean, I think we go through it. It’s not much that’s— I mean, it’s not like, it’s— you get to operate, and I’m sure they have content, and they can control the content. But we take a look at it just to see what’s going on.”

On when he looks at the beginning of the season, how big of a loss is Harold Landry’s injury status:

“I mean, we’d love to have Harold back. We’d love to have [Brenden] Schooler back. You know what I mean? But those guys, I don’t think that they— I wasn’t probably anticipating them being out there, so. It’s, I mean, if it was something that was sudden, maybe that would be a little different, but I think the plan was, this isn’t unexpected.

On with Bryce [Baringer], if there was any thought of putting him on injured reserve the day prior, and why there was kind of the wait to put him on injured reserve:

“Just a different, to be able to, different things with the roster [Sophie Weller] to be able to, you get 8 of those designated for return and, just wanted to see kind of where that went and how you use those throughout the course of the year. So that was probably the reason.”

On how they’re filling the two open roster spots:

“Fill the 2? Yeah, I think we claimed guys and we’ll have to continue to add to the practice squad.”

On a bigger picture question, if he talked to many people this offseason, seek any advice, anything like that on just how to move on to the next season following a Super Bowl loss and if there’s anything he’s looked into as far as that:

“No. I mean, we have a lot of new guys on the roster. We have some guys that are returning, our core guys, and understand that the journey’s going to be a lot more difficult just based on how we finished. But I think that if you can prepare and play well and give yourself a chance to win, focus on that particular game and then move on to the next week and treat that independently of anything else, figure out who’s available, I think just staying consistent is probably the thing that we have to continue to do and not ride the waves up here and then down low and just, try to stay consistent and continue to improve. The teams that do that are usually the ones that play in January.”

On how he’s feeling about his depth on the core special teams units? And with all the change and injuries, are if there are any guys that he’s maybe hoping step up in that regard:

“I mean, I think it was good to see a lot of the young guys improve on special teams, Gabe [Jacas] and Q [Quintayvious Hutchins]. And, Nam [Namdi Obiazor], Khalil [Jacobs] was working there before he got injured. And some of the young gunners that we have. And, so, I mean, I think that that was good to be able to get those guys a lot of work in the preseason and in the joint practices. A lot of those guys hadn’t played special teams, certainly at our level, or the demands of it, the tricks of the trade, and kind of what goes on out there. So, I think some of the guys that we’ve acquired have played special teams. We’ll see where they are and how they adjust. And I forget your second question…”

Just the guys that are going to step up.

“The guys that are going to step up are the guys that are going to step up. I don’t— I wish I could control how they step up, but the ones that take advantage of opportunities usually get more opportunities and then will be out there. And then the ones that don’t, usually have to wait, a little bit to have their turn come back around.”

On the fact he’s still constructing and tinkering with the roster, but if he feels that the core of it right now, the 53, could compete for another Super Bowl:

“We’re focused on just competing against Seattle, not competing for something that’s going to happen in February. And we really just are trying to indoctrinate, and I guess onboard these new players to understand our language, our terminology, how we practice, where to go. I mean, they just got in there late last night and they’re going through that process. But I love the guys that we have. I mean, we’re going to try to get the young guys going, but also get the guys that just got here. So there’s 10 new guys, and some of them are on the practice squad. Some of them are on the 53-man roster.”

On when he constructs the 53-man roster, if his focus is mainly keeping the best 53 players, or if he also considers some of the positions that he can afford to put on the practice squad and elevate during game day:

“Yeah, I think that there’s a lot to it. Some of the guys that are on the practice squad will get elevated to try to use those rules as much as we can. Sometimes it comes down to young players that, it’s a game of who you might lose and who, somebody else may claim. You don’t know, what they saw in the player or maybe they saw in preseason. And, I hope that, I think we have a vision for each guy. And that’s really what we try to do, and then go from there and then look through the claims. And I appreciate the process and the hard work that everybody had, and Eliot [Wolf] and Ryan [Cowden] and Eliot’s staff and the coaches, to all help and try to identify guys that we could potentially add in a short amount of time.

On with Quintarius Hutchins, what he saw from him throughout the summer that kind of helped him earn a spot on the roster:

“Well, I mean, I think he continued to be coachable. I think that that was something that he really improved on, was to take the coaching and to understand, where he needed to improve. I think that just looking at special teams, I think that was something that, he improved at. To be able to be a rookie play on the punt team, to go down there and make a nice tackle in open field and, cover kicks, do all these things that was really different from the practices to the first game. But then I felt like he improved from the first game to the third game. I think it was eye-opening for some of these guys just to— that on special teams from practices to the first game. So that was always— I think that’s the best thing that I could say is that they got better through each of those games.”

(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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