HEAD COACH MIKE VRABEL

Press Conference
Wednesday, October 8, 2025

Q: How do you feel, since he's taken over, Zak [Kuhr] has kind of progressed in his play calling duties?

MV: I think everybody over there has done a really good job as far as just organizationally. The communication to put the plan together, the efficiency to put a plan together, practice preparation and everything else. Again, there's no perfect call. I've said this millions of times. As long as our personnel is in the game, the call gets in there, it's decisive and one that the players understand, then it's a good call. We'll have good execution and sometimes we won't have such great execution but I do think that we haven't had any trouble with those. We haven't been pressed. We've been in two-minute situations. We've been in third down. We've stayed in personnel groups. We've changed personnel groups. I think Zak's doing a good job and will need to do a great job this week for what they do offensively.

Q: Mike, you've talked to us about your input here and there on offense. What's your level of involvement with the defensive game-planning?

MV: I think it stays the same. I try to be in a lot of different places and try to help where I can. I enjoy being defensively, and certainly help offensively when I can. Special teams-wise, I try to help where I can.

Q: You talked about working guys harder after a win, being able to do that in the past. How do you handle an emotional game like that as far as getting them back mentally ready?

MV: You practice and you go through meetings. You focus on a new opponent. We don't really know this opponent, I would say. This is new for a lot of players here, and maybe some coaches here, as far as their personnel, what they do and their skill players offensively. [Chris] Olave, [Rashid] Shaheed and how good [Alvin] Kamara is. [Kendre] Miller coming on and running as hard as he did. They've got all their tight ends available and up ready to go. We'll have to understand the difference between [Juwan Johnson] and when Taysom [Hill]'s in the game or [Foster] Moreau, right on down the line. Defensively, it's a big, physical front. I've always appreciated the way Demario Davis plays the game. Corners are active. Big, long, play the football, 24 PBUs on the season as a defense. They're creating turnovers and that was the difference in last week's game.

Q: Mike, what are some of the traits that Terrell Jennings has that have helped him stick around?

MV: I think he's a great teammate. I think he cares about the team. He's able to play on special teams. He's able to play on a fourth down. He's got a toughness to him. I think he's improved.

Q: Mike, when you put yourself in the shoes of the players, can it be a challenge to show the same energy and resolve the week after having such a big week, and a big emotional win on Sunday night? Can it be tough to match that the coming week?

MV: We have a job to do. It's the same every week. I think if we are consistent each and every week, I think it allows us to get past some of those things. We're disappointed after we lost. Happy when we won, disappointed when we lost. I think we've responded. We'll have to make sure that we're doing everything that we possibly can to prepare to go on and handle another tough environment. Just being able to handle the road environment, the crowd noise and everything else, I'm sure they'll be excited. They played really well last week. I'm sure they'll have the same great support that they always have in the Dome.

Q: Mike, I know you guys added a running back to the practice squad yesterday, but is that a position you would continue to look to add to with [Antonio] Gibson's injury?

MV: I mean, we're continuing – I think they'll probably, hopefully look everywhere if there's somebody that we feel like can help us, whether that's at running back or any other position. But right now, nothing new to add.

Q: Craig Woodson leads the team in defensive snaps. I know a lot goes into a week and over the course of a season, but what are some things that he's done to earn your trust?

MV: I think he's a good communicator. He's good in an open field. He's been able to handle a lot of volume, take care of his body. He hasn't been perfect, but I feel like he's just – there's some snaps I'm sure he'd like to have back, but there's been a – it hasn't been too big for him, and he stayed healthy, so that's the biggest thing.

Q: Mike, what are some of the things that you've seen Spencer Rattler do that have made him pretty successful?

MV: The ball comes out really quick. I think that he's decisive with the football, and I think he also is really good when he runs it. They designed some plays for him to run. He's been good in that regard, and then he's also – there's been some play extensions where he's been able to get out of there pretty quickly, so I think the decisiveness is continuing to show up and improve. They played well in Buffalo. It was a one-score game in the fourth quarter. They roughed the punter, and that was pretty much the end of it. Then, obviously, they got down last week. I think it was an impressive job on their part and Kellen [Moore]'s job, to be down 14-3, come storming back, hit a big play and then create some turnovers.

Q: Going back to Alvin Kamara, specifically looking back on this last game, how was the defense able to stop James Cook?

MV: We're just worried about Alvin Kamara and Miller. We'll have to do it over again, and we'll have to work through the week to build a wall, to set an edge, to swarm, tackle, be able to fit the runs up that they'll probably have in a scheme and everything else. But what you did one week certainly doesn't guarantee what you're going to do the next week, positively or negatively. They do a good job, they have runs out of tempo, they have shots out of tempo. They're under center, they're in the gun and the pistol, so there's a lot to be able to get ready for formationally, so things that we'll have to be ready for.

Q: It seems like a few of the defensive touchdowns allowed involved motion. I'm wondering, has there been any kind of theme in those and what do you have to do to beat that?

MV: Just communicate, understand that those are all scheme plays and that that's what we're going to get. We have to do a better job in the red zone of communicating and anticipating what that is. I don't think they're just going to line up and run a play. There's going to be something involved that grabs your eyes, it grabs your attention, misdirection. I don't know what the plays are. I can just try to explain what the concepts are going to be. They're going to change them a little bit each week, but when you look around, that's kind of what it is.

Q: With five weeks down now, what do you like about the captains on this team in terms of them setting the standard, and the communication between coaches and the rest of the team?

MV: Yeah, I think they do a good job of relaying the message that we try to create each week. I think they do a good job of bringing some things that maybe some other players or some younger players may have throughout the week to me. My job is to listen. My job is to try to make a decision that's best for the team, but to try to listen to them. Not that I'm always going to do everything that they ask, but I do appreciate them coming and sharing some of those thoughts from the rest of the team.

Q: It's only been a five-game sample with the new head coach. Do you get a sense at all holistically of how Kellen and his staff want to play games and win?

MV: I think they want to run the football. I think they do. I think they want to use tempo on their terms, which they've done a great job of. I think they want to make you prepare for a lot. I think they've got a lot of speed on the edges that they're trying to create, but also understand, with a young quarterback, that they want to be able to try to get it out of his hand from a numbers-wise and not sit there and hold it, so they've been successful with that. Try to keep it in third-and-manageable.

Q: The running game at this point is toward the bottom of the league, 27th ranked. I'm wondering how you can improve on that. Obviously, the passing game has been much stronger.

MV: Just keep working at it. I'm with you. We understand that. It's got to be better. It has to be better at the line of scrimmage, at the second level, and then continue to try to finish to break some of these. And we've had some good runs, just not enough of them. Not enough double-digit runs that help your average. So again, I think that we've got to stop talking about being one guy away or one block away. I think that was a big theme from last week, and that'll have to fix.

Q: You said that you've learned that penalties are not a strong indicator of wins. How does that information change your approach to coaching that area?

MV: It's not that we don't care about penalties. We want to make great decisions. I also understand that team fouls are ones that happen before the snap that we have to be better on. Hunter [Henry] communicating with the official, thinking that and hoping we got that cleaned up. We don't want to line up offsides, we don't want to extend drives. Competition fouls, and we ask them to play full tilt to the tackle, but then there's a line there. We have to play by two things, the whistle – I just don't understand how a professional athlete could assume that anybody in this league was down, and we're going to play to the whistle – and we're going to play to two feet in the white. We have to pass rush and not hit the quarterback in the head, can't hit him in the knees. If another player has two feet in the white, we can't hit him or give the appearance that we're hitting him. [Brenden] Schooler ran over there, stood there, the same guy got tackled by Marcus [Jones], and the official saw that. So again, you just have to understand what they're looking at. But we have to play aggressive. I think there has to be an aggressiveness to the way that we play. But also, that comes into the decision-making and when to make a great decision. It's hard for me to sit here and fault Josh [Joshua Farmer] from last week. There's no whistle, and the running back's acting like he's going to flip the ball back at a quarterback. I certainly would have liked to not have had a penalty called, but I can see it both ways. Just ask that they blow the whistle. That's an easy way for us to say that the play's over and our efforts need to stop. But I don't know how else to coach it. I don't know how else to coach professional players on defense in this league with the type of athletes that you're going against. It's hard to bring them down with one guy. They keep running, they bounce in, next thing you know. So again, we'll keep coaching it. It's not that it's not important – it's important, but it's also – there's something behind it. I tell you, every X play run – we ought to have Taylor [Kyles] track this – every X play run in this league, there's probably a hold. They don't call, that they don't miss. They don't see or they don't feel like they should call it. That's kind of what happens. You want to be aggressive, certainly just not reckless.

Q: You said the players need to earn their role. For the players currently on the show team or scout team, what can they do to earn a role to be with the regulars on Sunday?

MV: I think it's twofold. I think it's, one, based on who's in front of them and the health of that player. Two, prepare as a starter each and every week. Continue to improve and get recognized. Three, take advantage of their opportunities when it comes. We have a lot of guys that are getting better and improving in that area. That's valuable. It's valuable for us to be able to rep against them and also very valuable for them to improve and get those practice reps. So, hopefully when we need them or they earn the opportunity, they'll be ready.