HEAD COACH MIKE VRABEL
PRESS CONFERENCE
October 2, 2026
Q: On Monday, you told us that you weren't aware of any issue with Drake's [Maye] shoulder or anything that would land him on the injury report. Wednesday, he's on the injury report. Can you clarify what went down on that?
MV: No, I don't think I can help clarify it. I've explained it — we're just trying to follow the protocol exactly how it's given to us as it relates to the injury report and the way that we report it. The fact that it's a quarterback, I think that those things get looked at very closely. So again, we want to make sure that we're transparent. So, we listed him on the injury report after he went through the normal game day protocol, post game. Then we put on the reps that he missed — which was none. There were no limitations, so he practiced full – he didn't miss any reps. But we just felt like it was best to list it just to make sure that we are doing everything that we're supposed to do from a protocol standpoint.
Q: We have not seen Christian Gonzalez practice this week.
MV: Neither Christian will be up this week. Both those guys, [Christian] Barmore and Gonzalez, will be out. That'll be the only ones that will have an out designation. There will be some others listed as questionable later.
Q: With the shoulder for Drake, was that something that happened in the Jaguars game or before?
MV: I think that was something that came out of the football game. Like normal, I would say, football procedures. Guys go through the game much like Gonzo or somebody else that comes in sometimes Monday or even Tuesday for that matter and says, "Hey, thought this was something. Can you take a look at it?" So, that's what we do every week.
Q: When you have a list of injuries like you do already, is that something at some point you will look at and say, "Hey, is there anything we could have done to prevent it, whether it be practice, prehab, rehab," or is it a situation you just chalk up to bad luck?
MV: Some of these are battle wounds that happen in the games. We want to avoid soft tissue injuries, but sometimes there are some injuries that just happen through the course of playing. Not sure how we could have prevented Michael's [Onwenu] right ankle from getting rolled up on by two players or Dre'Mont Jones' shoulder to get smashed into the turf by the offensive lineman. I'm happy to listen if there's any way that we can avoid those. We try to look at these things very closely. Nothing is more important than the health of the football team. We clearly see that and understand that. So, there's a fine line that we wage between practicing, having speed at practice, having pads at practice, but also making sure that we are doing everything that we can to avoid injuries in practice. Then obviously when you go to the game, there are just some things that you can't avoid. We try to focus on our speed each week in between games. We try to get to 90% on Thursdays — we believe strongly in that and maintaining that. So, those are things that we monitor very closely, and we know how important the health of each player is.
Q: Mike, not exactly ideal to be going to Buffalo facing Josh Allen without Gonzalez and Barmore, two of your best defensive players.
MV: Well, again, that is just what the situation is. There's nothing we can do about it. We can make sure that the guys that are playing are ready and that we continue to do the things that we know are going to help us. But that happens every week in the National Football League. I'm looking forward to seeing the guys that are going to play in there.
Q: Mike, just to put a punctuation on Drake's situation, to your knowledge, did he get any treatment for the shoulder this week?
MV: I'm sure that he was in the training room, but I'm not really sure. Again, if he's on the injury report, I'm sure that at some point in time he got treatment. So that's why we listed him on the injury report.
Q: Mike, has there been any decision made at the right guard position for this week?
MV: I would probably anticipate Ben Brown starting out there. I think Walter [Rouse] will have to be ready to go. I think that we will see where we are with Matt Pryor coming over from Arizona, whether we feel like he could potentially help us at the game or be available for the game. I think that's something that we still have to decide here as he works into the communication, the system, going on the road, and then if not, we'll have to look to elevate somebody potentially.
Q: What do you guys like about Matt?
MV: He has played a lot of games in this league. He's got great size. He's played, so, he has good veteran ability. He's seen a lot of things. He's smart. He's played a lot of football.
Q: Do you anticipate Charles Woods to replace Gonzalez?
MV: I mean, I think Charles will get some snaps in there. I think we'll mix around some guys. Marcus [Jones] will play outside, inside a little bit. I think Karon's [Prunty] done a really nice job on special teams and so if he's asked to play on defense, he'll be ready to go.
Q: Mike, Zak [Kuhr] was telling us yesterday about the idea of making it muscle memory for defending those longer plays against Josh Allen. How do you feel that went specifically this week?
MV: I think it's hard to recreate those. I think we get a good job from 2 Chainz [Tommy DeVito] and [Behren] Morton to extend those plays and we talk about playing the second play. So again, it's going to be critical that we are on body, whether that's to the front side of where he is rolling out to or back in the middle. He'll go anywhere — he has that ability and he has that confidence in himself. So, a huge challenge, and we understand that, but we have done it before.
