PATRIOTS HEAD COACH MIKE VRABEL

PRESS CONFERENCE
January 12, 2026

Q: When it comes to your next opponent, will you start work on both teams tonight or wait until we see?

MV: No, I mean, we have to – again, there's two things here that we're working on today. We have to be able to identify some things that we can reasonably try to correct and enhance. Then the other one's trying to prepare for an opponent that we won't know who it is until tonight. So, we'll have to do work on both teams, and we'll have to be ready to go, and that's just how it is.

Q: Mike, I think Milton Williams is one of the few players you guys signed this offseason where you guys didn't really have a history of coaching him on the staff. Have you been pleased with his leadership, toughness, things that you've seen from him behind the scenes?

MV: Yeah, I mean, we did a lot of work on Milton coming out, like a lot of teams, but I would say that everything that we thought of him coming out is exactly what we saw in Philadelphia and then saw here. So, I think his consistency has been really good, his leadership, and he certainly has come up in big moments.

Q: Mike, how much did you know about K'Lavon Chaisson before this year? How impressed have you been with his contributions?

MV: Again, probably did some work on him coming out, went through a process there in the offseason, and KC [K'Lavon Chaisson] was one of those players that had been a couple different places and was trying to make the best decision for him, his family and his career, which I can appreciate. So, we went back and forth. There were talks and conversations, and I was glad that he was willing to join us and glad he's had success. He has done a great job, and we'll need all those efforts moving forward, but he's into it. He's here a lot and fought through the bumps and the bruises of an NFL season. So again, all the credit goes to him, but I think that that wasn't something that was just cemented on one day. I mean, there were some conversations as we worked through free agency and what his plans were and what the vision that we had for him was.

Q: There's been a lot of talk this season about strengthening schedule. What does a win last night mean for the team this season?

MV: It means we get to keep playing. That's what that means. It means we're not on vacation.

Q: Mike, how important is timing and maybe even just reps, getting reps together for those guys up front, for you, defensively, when you're running those three-man games? I'm thinking of the strip sack yesterday. Do those guys need a lot of reps together for those things to work?

MV: Well, I just think that there's a lot of – the more that you can work with the guy next to you, I think, the better. Sometimes you're getting a different look based on their protection, or do they jump you, do they soft set, are they sliding, whatever it may be. So, the more that you can get a look at those things and be able to work with the guy next to you, how the guy's setting it up, how your guy is blocking you and your ability to get where you need to get to. So, the more reps that we can get at any type of combination with more than one player is important, whether that's a route concept with two guys, pass rush games, offensive line or blocking. I think any time that you're dealing with two players that have a responsibility – or more players – the more reps, the better.

Q: You had a few guys last night who came back after kind of an extended period away, like Robert [Spillane] How did he look, in particular? How do you think he held up?

MV: Yeah, I mean, I thought he held up okay. I think that there's going to be some plays that he's going to want to improve on, game conditioning and all those things, and motion, but we got great efforts from everybody. Robert and Harold [Landry III], who hadn't been out there, helped us win. They're all part of this victory.

Q: A lot of your downfield success in the passing game came from some heavier groupings. What were the Chargers doing that maybe made it tougher to get downfield from their wider personnel, and what were the advantages that you saw in some of those base packages?

MV: Well, they rush, and they've got a good front. The further you want to throw the ball downfield, the longer that you have to protect, and I think they certainly play very good pass defense and different shells, whether they're in man or post safety and they're pushing somebody back out there. Again, I think that being able to mix up the personnel groups is something that we've tried to do, that other teams try to do, no different than the Chargers. Early on, going in 22-personnel, trying to get a play action pass out of there and trying to get some route to [Oronde] Gadsden or something. So, being able to mix personnel and staying balanced out of each personnel, I think, is critical.

Q: Mike, can you talk about the growth of Andy Borregales, to what he dealt with in training camp and adversity, a little bit, during the year? When you're not talking about a kicker, a lot of times, he's doing his job. Can you just talk about him?

MV: Yeah, I think that first of all, his demeanor, I think, has been great. It's been consistent. Just keep kicking, keep learning, practicing, kicking in the elements and kicking on a different side. It doesn't really seem that things affect him. So, again, all the credit to Andy for remaining consistent mentally. He has made some big kicks for us, so I'm sure that that's helped his confidence.

Q: Any thoughts on a 2-point conversion after Hunter's [Henry] touchdown?

MV: Yeah, obviously some thoughts there, then just thinking that maybe we'd get a couple more possessions where the field goal could probably get us to 8, but could easily have done that. Proud of the guys, really. The sudden change all night and situational football was really good.

Q: You were here for a lot of big games in the past. Just, first playoff game in six years here last night, what did you think of the atmosphere?

MV: Well, I thought it was amazing. I think it starts with our willingness to play to a style that our fans appreciate. We've talked about that since as long as I can remember, that if we play to a certain style, they'll embrace that and they'll cheer for us. I think that what we do here from the stadium perspective, the introductions and the fireworks, I mean, that's all part of it. We're in the entertainment business, and we have to provide things for people to get excited about. So, I appreciate the way that our fans have been here, and I appreciate the way that they've traveled, and I can't say enough about them.

Q: Coach, the fans just telling us out in the parking lot that they just love the personality of this team. Can you describe the personality, and is it playing a role in the winning?

MV: I mean, we try to embrace what we do, where we do it and who we do it with, and we try to enjoy all those things as well. So, I want them to enjoy coming to work. I want them to embrace the hard work and all the effort that goes into it. Then I want them to enjoy playing together, playing with a style and having their own personalities.

Q: Is Christian Gonzalez in concussion protocol, and what do you think of his performance before he left the game?

MV: Well, Gonzo [Christian Gonzalez] continues to play at a high level. Those are the expectations that he has for himself and that we have for him, and yeah, I would say that he would be in the protocol. How long that lasts, I don't know, but when you don't return to the game, when they won't let you go back in the game, that would put him in the protocol. So, wherever that goes, that goes, but we appreciate what he's done and his willingness to line up different places. It's not quite as easy as – we've been through this, but different coverages, locations, motions and things like that. So, he's handled that all really well. Hopefully, we'll get him back.

Q: Mike, back to K'Lavon. He was a first-round pick years ago, bounced around, as you mentioned. This is his best season in production. What has he done to kind of unlock himself, and what have you guys done to kind of get the talent that he was known for to work for you?

MV: Yeah, everybody has a different journey to this career and in the NFL. I think he's worked really hard. I think he plays hard. His motor runs hot. I think he has a good get-off and multiple moves. I think Smitty [Mike Smith] has worked hard with that entire group. I go back to training camp and KC's willingness to play special teams, to play on the punt team for us and play a lot of snaps when guys were banged up. Then he kind of got banged up and he didn't ask to be taken off the punt team. I'm glad that we found guys that can help him on that unit, but he's in every one of the meetings. He's taking reps in practice. He's ready to go on that unit. So, I think that's probably been the thing that's impressed me the most was his willingness to be a part of the special teams and what we're doing on fourth down and how important that is.

Q: You obviously won the game, so it's not like it came back to hurt you, but I'm just curious how you felt about the run-pass split for you guys. It felt like Rhamondre [Stevenson] was running, in particular, pretty effectively. I think he only finished with 10 carries.

MV: We'll evaluate that and kind of see where it is. Again, we were able to stay balanced. Some of those checkdowns, I felt like, were part of the idea. These guys are going to take some of this stuff away. I give Drake [Maye] credit. We get one tip there trying to get it to a back; that gets intercepted. We come back the very next drive, we're on the 2-yard line, and he's throwing that thing from his end zone, and they don't cover the back. They blitz, don't cover the back, don't cover Rhamondre. So, to me, that's like a long handoff, and that was a huge play in the game. For Drake to be able to come back and do that and say, 'Hey, there's a guy that's standing here getting ready to jump up and bat the ball, and I'm going to make sure that I throw it around him,' I thought was a big play. So, whether we hand it, whether we throw it, whether we throw it to Hunter, whether we throw it to [Stefon] Diggs, just clean execution. Then once that happens, we see guys transitioning, blocking, letting the identity take over. [We've got to] take care of the football better and all that other stuff.

Q: Kayshon Boutte came across as pretty vulnerable, I think, in his Players' Tribune. What do you think about that, and what type of growth have you seen from him?

MV: Well, that's not easy to do. I told him I know that will help a lot of people. He's, I would say, a private person, but I have seen a lot of growth from him personally. It's important to him. This team means a lot to him. He competes. He seems to always kind of come through when we need him, just like he did again last night. For him to be able to open up and share those things publicly and as candidly as he did, I was really proud of him. I said that immediately when I saw it, and I think it just shows a lot of growth. That's not easy to do.

Q: What did you think about the left side of the offensive line with Will [Campbell] and Jared [Wilson] and how they did last night?

MV: Had some good plays, had some plays they'd like to have back. So, we can evaluate everybody and say that they had some good plays in the run game, had some good pass protections, gave up a sack. We can't get pushed back in, and then if we're cutting a guy, we're trying to get rid of the ball. So, we've got to get rid of the ball, and Drake knows that. So, that's how it goes. We just put 65, 70 plays out there. There's going to be some good ones. There's going to be some bad ones, and hopefully there's not too many of them that get you beat.

Q: Christian Elliss is a player who's made some plays for you guys on special teams and defense. I'm curious how you've seen him grow in your system this season.

MV: Again, he has a certain skill set. He can run. He's been able to cover. We've blitzed him. Really, he's got a lot of versatility. We try not to overload him with a bunch of different positions, but he spied the quarterback last night when he extended and went out, came to balance, made a tackle. That's not easy to do on an athletic quarterback like [Justin] Herbert. He comes to work every single day trying to get better, trying to improve, run reads, fits, awareness, communication. That's what I appreciate the most about Christian is that he just doesn't come in with any preconceived notions. He comes in with a willingness to improve. I would say that nobody spent more time with coaches than Christian. Training camp, OTAs, trying to get it right, trying to study. Again, he's been a factor for us in fourth down and a factor for us on defense as well. So, we're going to need everybody this week again, just like we did last week.

Q: Coach, how are you feeling with your lip?

MV: My lip's fine. I've been hit harder than that.