TRANSCRIPT: Mike Vrabel Press Conference 9/3

Here’s what New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel had to say during his press conference on Thursday, September 3, 2026.

On if it helps in any way that they did play Seattle 7 months ago:

“I mean, I don’t think that it— I mean, as far as the players that they’ve had and the play style, maybe. I mean, we’ll have to block them better. We’ll have to be able to run the football better. We’re going to have to be able to stop the run better. I mean, there’s a lot of things that we’re going to have to do better based on the personnel that they have. They may do some of the same things. They may change. We’ll have to be ready for a lot of those. But I mean, I think that the players are there, the ones that contributed heavily and that are there [are] really good players that we’re going to have to understand their play style and what they do and how they rush and how they block. And I think that’s been about the only thing that you can really take away from it and just be ready for the style that we think that they may run offensively and defensively.”

On the fact that different players respond in different ways to different situations, but in his experience, if there’s any way to adequately prepare a rookie for his first NFL experience, especially when they go into a game:

“We try to give them as much as we can here and stress them as much as we possibly can in practice and the noise and situations. But probably not, you know what I mean? I don’t know if there’s a great way to be able to do that for their first game and the experiences and the emotions that they’re going to have. But it’ll also be something that they’ll never forget.”

On the fact Sean McVay, coming off his first Super Bowl, talked about the fact it was killing him that he got outcoached in the game, and in his reflection on the Super Bowl, if he thinks that he and his staff were outcoached in that game:

“I mean, I’m not going to reflect back on it. We say the same thing every time we lose. We got outcoached. We got outplayed. When we win, it’s on our players. But, that’s a long time ago. We’ll need to play better. We’ll need to coach better to give ourselves a chance in that environment. And, it’s always been the same. We try to be as consistent as we possibly can after wins, and then after losses, you’re always looking for things that you could have done differently as a coach and as a player.”

On as he built this team, how much of what he did in the offseason was based upon what he learned about the group in the Super Bowl and areas that he wanted to improve:

“I don’t think that the Super Bowl was the only factor in the decisions that we made. I think you evaluate your roster, you look at the guys that you want to move forward with and the guys that you feel like maybe that moved on in free agency. You look at the draft and try to figure out who the best guys that come onto your team that you have a vision for. So, I mean, the games that we all— every game that we played, I think factors into it. You just have to be at your best in this league at every moment, whether that’s going on the road in Seattle, whether it’s playing at home or playoff games.”

On, as a player, what’s the biggest difference he sees in Drake [Maye] from the guy who walked off the field in the Super Bowl to the guy who’s going to be going into Seattle next week:

“Well, I think just more comfort in what we’re doing. More command. More understanding to be able to operate and get us into the best plays. I think there’s probably a comfort level with— once you know your job really, really well, you can help other people do their job. And hopefully that that’s the case where he’s sharing details of the play with guys that are in there, or he’s getting guys lined up or making sure that we’re legal or the timing of the motions. And I think as you understand, your knowledge increases. Hopefully the details do as well.”

On in terms of Christian Gonzalez, if he’s a better player today than he was when we saw him in February, and if so, how:

“I mean, again, he’s put a lot of great work in, the competitiveness in practices. He’s never really stressed. There’s a very— he’s a very, I think, comfortable— and I don’t mean that by lazy – it’s just that he’s not stressed. And then when he bursts, he bursts. And, when he has a chance to go for an interception, he does. When he has a chance to stab, he makes great decisions. He plays square. He’s athletic and fast. So, I mean, I’ve seen a— I mean, he’s not a player that’s been sitting around there just waiting, you know what I mean? This is a player that every chance that he has, has looked to improve, challenge, 2-minute situations, normal down and distances, 3rd down. I’ve seen a very competitive player.”

On the reports from earlier this week, what the organization’s reaction is to the contract stuff after Christian’s trainer went on the radio and talked about some of the contract negotiations:

“No, again, no comments or nothing new to report with Christian other than— I mean, I think I pretty much covered everything I could there with Mike’s question, but nothing new to report contractually. Trying to get him ready for the football game, trying to get him ready on the first and second down stuff that we’re doing today. And how he can help us win.”

On the fact the last time [the media] talked to Christian, he did not commit to playing week 1 without a new contract, and if he and his coaching staff would have to create a plan without him for this game against Seattle:

“We have to prepare for everything that potentially happens, whether that’s players’ availability through multiple different reasons. So, we’ll have to be ready for a lot of things. And as we work here into week 1 and, and the craziness of the National Football League and the journey that we’re about to go on.”

On if there’s much concern that the longer this thing draws out, that it’s just continuing to be a distraction for Christian and something that’s negatively affecting maybe his relationship with the team:

“I think we want to try to be as ready and prepared for the football game as we possibly can. I think distractions come in a lot of different ways, and it’s how we handle them, how we respond to them. So again, I love coaching Christian. He is a valuable member of this football team. And, we’ll continue to have discussions. But I don’t have anything else to add about the contract.”

On if he’s expecting Christian to play in Seattle:

“As I repeated, as I said a couple days ago, as the head coach, I expect every player that’s healthy and under contract to practice and to play. And again, that may change based on my conversations with different players and the plan that they have each and every day when you talk about practice or what the plan may be for the football game. So that goes with this situation and anybody else that would fall underneath that. That’s what our expectation is.”

On the fact Drake has talked about one thing he wanted to work on this year was getting the ball out quickly, among many things that he’s working on, and what he’s observed from him through the practices, and if you can really assess that:

“I mean, I think that that’s great, but there’s also a design to the play, and there’s a timing element to when we can get the ball out quickly based on the route, based on the depth of the route, the location of the route. And we can’t just raise it up and throw it the second that we get it every single snap. But we went through a lot of details this morning about our first and second-down offense and listened to the players answer offensively about some of the details and the different plays and the concepts that we have on first and second down. And I think it was very reassuring just to hear the different positions or the different players talk about each of those details. So there’s times when the ball can come out quick and there’s certainly times when, when it can’t based on the concept that we have.”

On his thoughts on Drake [Maye], Hunter [Henry], Morgan [Moses], Robert [Spillane], Kevin [Byard], and Marcus [Jones] being named captains this season:

“I mean, those guys have, since I’ve been here, the 5 that were here last year were great leaders and very consistent players, very consistent demeanor in their preparation and the type of teammates that they were. We added Kevin this year, so I’m always appreciative of those guys that lead. We’ll have a leadership group as well that will assist them and— again, we’ll meet, but it’s not like we have to have a standard meeting for them to approach me and talk about something.”

On the fact The Athletic released or published its findings after its review into Diana Rossini’s reporting, and if he has any reaction to that:

“No, I don’t have any reaction. No, we’re moved on and focused on Seattle and focused on the Patriots and focused on getting better this week.”

On if he feels like that situation is fully behind him:

“I try to just say that I’ve moved on and excited about this new opportunity here as we start this season.”

On the fact he talked about dialing back before ramping up over the course of the game week there, and if this is the day when it’s kind of full speed ahead or if that’s Wednesday:

“No, we’ll, we’ll go at it with some speed today. I mean, we only get 14 padded practices through 17 weeks, 11 of which have to be in the first 11 weeks. So we’ll be in the shells. We’ll have to start to learn how to practice with shells on without shoulder pads, which I think is something that good teams know how to do. I think that they can go with speed, and it’s not a jog-through. There’s speed, but there’s no collisions. But there has to be contact. It’s practice. We have to get these reps for first and second down. So, no, I’m looking forward to seeing where we’re at here going into the first and second down offense.”

(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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