PATRIOTS HEAD COACH MIKE VRABEL

PRESS CONFERENCE
October 1, 2025

Q: All eyes are going to be on you and your team Sunday night. Do you enjoy the Primetime spotlight?

MV: Well, I think if you want to get to where you want to get to, I think you certainly better enjoy it – better enjoy playing in Primetime games. And that's something that we're trying to prepare for right now. And so, I think that certainly it will be a huge challenge. The last time they lost at home was 14 games ago. We're well aware of that and have to do a lot of really good things to give ourselves a chance. They're, playing good football, they're playing clean football, they're not beating themselves and they're doing a nice job in all phases.

Q: You faced off against Josh Allen, I believe, the first five years of his career. Just his development from year one to then when you saw him year three to five, how impressive was that? Is there anything you or anyone else can take away from how he grew as a player?

MV: Well, I mean, I think he realized that he's got immense talent, and I think he's done a much better job of taking care of the football. And really that's been the big difference for me. Just watching it from afar, a few years ago, forcing things in the red zone, and that led to some turnovers, some interceptions. And now I think he just has a greater understanding of taking care of the football in those situations. And they're still scoring touchdowns.

Q: Do you have an update on Jahlani Tavai and do you expect him to be out there this week?

MV: I expect him to practice, yes. I don't have an update on the game, but he will return to play and practice.

Q: How do you find that balance when you're trying to defend a quarterback like Josh Allen? Do you want to get after him? Do you want to have kind of a penetration from the front, but you also want to maintain gap distance?

MV: Well, there's always going to be an extra gap in there unless you send two guys. So, there's a gap somewhere in there if you rush four. There's a gap in there if you rush five. But, again, I think that it's just good, coordinated, relentless, coordinated rush. Even when guys are free, he makes a miss. He spins or he'll extend out past the numbers to the red line and continue to make plays down the field. Or, heaven forbid, he scrambles up the middle and makes a move on a guy like he's done in the past in the last couple weeks or breaks the stiff arm out. So, again, it's a huge challenge any time that he's carrying the football. And then, obviously, the accuracy and kind of the timing that he's had throwing the football will be something that we'll have to work on.

Q: What's allowed James Cook in this Buffalo run game to have so much success, and what are the keys to trying to contain him this week?

MV: Because he's a good player. They've got good guys blocking for him. I think the tight ends have done a really nice job. And then I think his vision, his patience and burst. Everybody's at the point of attack. He runs where you're not and if you have bad discipline or you don't chase your gap when it's moving away from you, he's going to come back and find it. So, he's really been a nice back for them and is just taking care of the football with the amount of carries that he's had.

Q: They've seemed to embrace heavy personnel more than anybody. Last year with an extra offensive lineman, this year they're using [Jackson] Hawes sort of in that role. When it's 22, I think the league averages three snaps a game for 22-personnel, and they're in the 13, 14 range. What sort of challenge does that present for you guys?

MV: Well, not only the 22-personnel, the 13-personnel. Those are basically heavier personnels. They do a nice job of having a run plan each week out of it that they like and that they think is going to give them success, but then also still having the ability to keep the route integrity and running some of the stuff out of that with [Dalton] Kincaid and [Dawson] Knox, and being able to do all those things that they would do out of other personnel groups.

Q: It seems as if, with Josh Allen, the Bills embraced really quickly the notion that, "Hey, he's going to run, he's going to make mistakes, he's going to be a little bit of a wild stallion. Let's do that." So, he's now come out the other side of it. With Drake [Maye], you guys are very much stressed, "Let's be a passer first." Do you anticipate, over the course of time, that he would become more of a potent runner and embrace it the way that Allen does?

MV: I don't know if I necessarily agree with that. I think that we want Drake to play quarterback, and that's to work the progression, work the scheme of the play. I've never said not to run, just to protect himself and to protect the ball. So, I don't necessarily agree with that. And then with Josh Allen, I think he's going to play quarterback how he feels gives him the best chance to win and lead his team to victory each week, which has been pretty successful.

Q: Is [Josh Allen's] athletic skill set – the size, the speed, the power that he uses – like Steve McNair or Ben Roethlisberger?

MV: Not into comparisons. I think that he's a very, very good athlete. I think he loves football. I think he's got an energy to him. And there's a willingness to run. Certainly contact courage, doesn't lack any of that. It's like Wildcat when they choose to run them on design runs.

Q: Without getting into the one-for-one comparison, is his skill set as difficult to defend as maybe any other quarterback you've played or coached?

MV: It will be this week. It will be the toughest challenge this week. But, again, there's a reason that he's up there in the MVP every year and that his teams are very successful. I've got a lot of respect for him, and he knows that.

Q: With four games under your belt now, how far along do you feel like you are in identifying the consistent strengths of the team week-to-week, and is it kind of where you expect it to be?

MV: I didn't really have many expectations just because you never really know. I think we're just trying to do it each and every week, and we have to continue to build that and practice that. But it's a good reminder that when we can do those things, that we can have success and we give ourselves a chance to win.

Q: Mike, just piggybacking a little bit on what Karen [Guregian] was asking about it being a big moment and a spotlight on a Sunday night. Do you relish the opportunity to go into a place like Buffalo where they've had so much success and the crowd is so into it?

MV: Sure. I mean, I think you have to. One, we don't have any other choice, but I think you have to, and I think it's important that we can take the next step, show that we are ready and that maybe some of our identity has a chance to let itself out on Sunday night. But it'll be a great challenge. It'll be a challenge to even just prepare today, get going and focus on all those things that are going to help us in the road environment.

Q: Mike, you know historically Todd Downing's done a lot of work in the red zone for the other teams he worked with. Where has his work shown up there for you guys, if at all?

MV: Same. It's the same. I like to go in and talk with Todd and Thomas [Brown], and get some preliminary thoughts, some things that we may like and then be able to present it to Josh [McDaniels] as we work through the week. So, those guys are as involved as they always have been.

Q: Mike, how do you assess your depth at safety? And if you needed to tap into that, anyone in that corner room that might have some flexibility to play back there?

MV: I don't think we've thought about taking any corners and making them safeties just yet.

Q: Mike, what's made their pass defense as effective as it's been? I think they're number one in the league is yards per pass.

MV: Very sound. Great vision and great players. They've got some guys on the corner, on the edge that have some length. Backers are fast, instinctive. And the safeties do a great job of disguising and then once the match or the route declares, being able to match it and play it. They've done a really nice job. They stay multiple, proficient in a lot of different coverages and they mix it up on you.

Q: Are they trying to keep things in front for the most part? Seems like not a lot of deep passes.

MV: Yeah, I mean, I think that's probably fair. But I don't think – it's not like they're playing cover two extensively. I mean, it's a lot of post-safety, they get into their quarters and then they blitz different people off of it. But it's a very sound and instinctive defense with guys that trigger. And when it gets thrown short, they do a great job of breaking, vice tackling and not missing a whole lot of tackles when the quarterback decides to check it down.

Q: When you've seen some rotating at linebacker over the last couple weeks. Do you see that continuing or would you prefer to stick with one guy next to [Robert] Spillane?

MV: I don't mind rotating. I think that everybody's just trying to help us out. We've got a lot of guys that play special teams. We've got guys that play, rotating in there on defense. We play a lot of different skilled players offensively. So, I think that that can be a good balance.

Q: This will be your last visit to Buffalo unless you go back to the postseason. What are your recollections of that stadium, that environment, and did you really, really love the visitors' locker room?

MV: Yeah, wasn't it Ralph Wilson Stadium? Yeah, again, I love the ride up. I love the passionate fans, coming up into that thing, driving down the road and seeing the same things you saw for 20 years in this league. So, it's a great sports town and we're excited to go there on Sunday night.