PATRIOTS HEAD COACH MIKE VRABEL

PRESS CONFERENCE
October 14, 2026

Q: Do you plan on designating A.J. Brown for return today?

MV: Yeah, A.J. will be out there to practice. We'll see how that goes. Marcus Bryant will be out there as well.

Q: Do you expect Christian Gonzalez to return to practice this week?

MV: Yeah. I think he'll try to do some stuff today. So, we'll see how that goes.

Q: Carlton [Davis III], in the same boat?

MV: Nope, not the same boat.

Q: What boost does A.J. give your offense now?

MV: I don't know. He hasn't been out there, so I can't tell you until we actually see it. He hasn't been out there for four weeks, so we'll get him back out there practicing and see if he's ready to go in a couple days. And if not, then we have a 21-day window, and we'll go from there.

Q: You talked about A.J.'s maturity. You've seen over the years from Tennessee to here now, how have you seen that through the injury for him?

MV: Yeah, I think he's stayed engaged. I think it's difficult sometimes to stay engaged. I think his routine was really good, his ability to be around guys in the meetings and then also focus on his rehab. He's just treating everything as a pro, being where he's supposed to be and working hard to get back.

Q: Does the schedule with the upcoming short week change anything, as far as getting guys back for Sunday, getting guys back for next week?

MV: I mean, I think that we'll just focus on this week and see if guys are ready to go. We obviously know we have a shortened week next week. It can't impact our decisions to try to do everything we can to win this week. Then we'll figure out where we are after that.

Q: Last time during spring and summer, Mike, we asked you about the edge group and if you felt like you had enough there with the Harold [Landry III] injury. You were bullish on them, and you said, "I like that group. I'm pleased with that group and their progression." What have you seen from them this year, and what gave you that belief in them before?

MV: Good. I think that they're all working hard. There's a good mix. Brought in a veteran with Dre'Mont [Jones]. I think we thought Elijah [Ponder] would continue to be a developmental player that would improve, and has, and then eventually we would get Gabe [Jacas] going or back to try to make up some of the time that he missed in the spring. He's playing really hard and doing some good things for us. So again, we'll try to continue to add everywhere we possibly can that we feel like can help us. But there's some good youth there, and then the veteran guys. Certainly depth has to be at our forefront of our thought process there with just only three guys having gone into the game last week.

Q: Mike, it's been a bullish start to the season for Geno Smith in terms of taking care of the football.

MV: He's done a fantastic job. And so, if you want to try to create turnovers, you're going to have to actually go out and force them. He hasn't made many mistakes. He's been really good with the football. He's been decisive, has been able to create some X plays. [Garrett] Wilson's playing fantastic, whether he's creating separation or if he's contested. Geno trusts him to be able to come down with those catches, big catches on third down, he's had the X plays on first and second down. So, Geno's no stranger to playing quarterback in this league, what's required of him and what the team needs of him. I think that's really important, and he's done a fantastic job at that.

Q: The run game helps him, the two physical backs.

MV: Yeah, and getting probably both backs back. You know what I mean? Breece Hall's a career 4.5-yard carry guy, can go anywhere, can bounce it out. He got an 83-yard touchdown. He continues to break long ones and always has throughout his career. So, even if you're playing a run well against these two backs, you take one nap or somebody misses a tackle and somebody's not running to the ball, you've seen X plays get created that way. So, I told you last year, I thought the O-line has done a good job. They play physical. They push the piles. So, these are all things that we're going to have to focus on this week.

Q: David Bailey's been one of their most productive defenders so far this year as a rookie, which is pretty incredible. What have you seen from him, and what challenge does he present?

MV: He's fast, explosive, instinctive. He can bend, got a really good get off and is able to win at the top and corner. He uses his get off, so just like every week, we'll have to be very conscious of the front. They do a nice job interior-wise. They're big, they're physical. Then on the edges, they can create some havoc. I think when they blitz, they have a really good blitz demeanor, whether it's [Jamien] Sherwood, Demario Davis or [Jarvis] Brownlee. They've been able to just create disruption when they blitz.

Q: What you were talking about earlier with a guy like Ponder, watching him at the end of last season just continually get more and more confident and improve, and then take it through the offseason into now. When you see guys do that, what kind of an example does that set for the rest of the team?

MV: Well, I think just trying to identify the right people and then give them the right resources that they need to excel and succeed. Putting them in places that don't overload them early on in their career, and then continuing to work and show them the jump that they can make. I think that's the case for any of the guys, whether that's the opportunity last week for Elliott Davison or Kindle [Vildor] or really anybody. We relish being able to give guys opportunities and watch them take advantage of them.

Q: There's so much you guys can track in terms of the speeds these guys are moving. I'm curious if there's anything you saw from A.J. during his rehab process that made now the right time to get him back on the practice field?

MV: That comes through Jim [Whalen] and Frank [Piraino] and that staff there as far as the return to play. They spend time with the trainers, and then they'll transition to the strength and conditioning coaches, doing more of the football things that are required of them, conditioning. So, there's rehab. They work with the trainers, and then there's a return to play where they're focused on more football skill movements. By tracking that and seeing how they feel, we'll make a decision.

Q: Kyle Williams, he mentioned that this last game is a little bit of a confidence boost. How do you keep that momentum going and have his production be a little bit more consistent?

MV: I mean, it would be hard for me to try to keep anybody's confidence going. I think that's up to them. I can show them what they do well and try to coach them, but I think Kyle should have confidence. Again, we have to look at separation. Sometimes as receivers, you get inundated with, "Man, the ball didn't find me." Well, you keep creating separation, you keep being where you're supposed to be, be ready for your opportunity, and the ball will find you. But it was great to see him be able to make those plays down the field. Hopefully that'll continue to translate.

Q: During the week, what's some of the most valuable information Ekene [Olekanama] provides your staff?

MV: Well, I think we just look at different things as far as the pre-snap looks, the coverage percentages of where they're going to try to disguise or these runs maybe have been better against this particular front or these pressures maybe. Again, I think it's a little bit more football analytics and not just numbers- run-pass percentage- but actually, I think more scheme plays or types of plays, right? Whether it's a gap scheme or, "Hey, we may want to look at these sort of plays, or this is where they pre-snap alignments that they'll disguise from. Seventy percent of the time they'll roll to the middle or they'll come down." So, I think that's just something that we're all trying to figure out how much of that information can actually be used by the player, and what's too much, right? How much can you figure out? I think that's just finding the sweet spot of analytics, is what the players can basically digest in a short amount of time from the time that they come out and they see the formation or they see the look of things that they could expect.

Q: When you had a big lead as you had last weekend, how do you manage a player's playing time in terms of who's staying in, who's coming out, especially when you have so many injuries to deal with?

MV: I think you just try to look at the health or the age. We only have so many guys at the game. We only have eight linemen, so you can't sit every offensive lineman. Everybody can't sit. As far as the quarterback and the center, we just felt last week it was starting to rain. We were going to hand it off, so we kept those guys in there.

Q: Mike, will TreVeyon [Henderson] or Will [Campbell] end up on IR, or is that something you guys are still working through?

MV: If we were to put anybody on IR, that has to be done prior to the game, so that'd have to be done before Saturday by 4 o'clock. If we were putting anybody on IR, we probably would wait till then.

Q: You guys have had to make some difficult roster decisions and have some more difficult ones coming up as far as return from IR. Who all is part of those decisions that you guys are making? Is it you? Is Eliot [Wolf] involved? Stretch [John Streicher]?

MV: It's the same four people that I talk about all the time. It's me, Eliot, Stretch, Ryan [Cowden]. We get feedback from the coaches. It's a certainly a group effort that we want to try to get it right and figure out however many guys can return. You get eight guys that can designate for return and you can bring back. When do you start the window? When do you not? Are they healthy enough? So again, the trainers are going to have some input based on the health of the player.

Q: I wanted to ask you about clock management. The amount of information that you guys can have on the sideline, the analytics, does it ever feel overwhelming or overkill to try and manage, say, end of half situation, end of game situation? There's so much we see where teams are taking more risks or sometimes making mistakes. How do you deal with that?

MV: I think most importantly, we want to be sound. We want to make the logical and the most calculated decision. We don't want to be too cute. That's, I think one thing that I'm always talking to Stretch about is, "Let's not get too cute here." But it's less opportunity that you give the other team. Most important thing is that the players understand the situation, and that they feel confident in it. And so, whether you choose to kick off, whether you choose not to kick off, whether you choose to gain extra yards, whether you choose to go for it on fourth down, a lot of that has to be explained to the players about what our stance is, what our philosophy is and why we're trying to do what we do.

Q: Do you have multiple voices in your headset when those situations are happening, or is it just Stretch and then you make the call?

MV: Yep. Two voices in my head, me and Stretch. So, that's what we do.

Q: You have been one of the best defenses in the league when you blitz from a coverage and pass rush perspective. What does it take to blitz responsibly from a preparation and a play calling perspective?

MV: You have to have guys that can impact the play when they blitz, and you have to have coverage guys that understand where they need to be based on what the coverage is that you're trying. Is it a post high? Is it split-safety zone pressure? Is it a man pressure? But really, the most important thing is that the guys are going to go with the demeanor and an attitude that will try to affect the quarterback.