PATRIOTS HEAD COACH MIKE VRABEL
PRESS CONFERENCE
November 21, 2025
Q: I just want to kick things off if you have any injury updates?
MV: No injury update. The only update for the game, Jahlani Tavai will be out for the game. That'll be non-injury related. That's something personal, and that'll be all that I'll talk about at this time. So, that's the only update I have for you.
Q: I wanted to follow up. It seems like Joe Burrow could be playing. He's listed as questionable. How has that changed anything at all?
MV: It really, it hasn't. I mean, the stuff that they've always done and will do is going to remain the same. Joe's [Burrow] probably, or is, more mobile than what Joe [Flacco] is. Both are going to run the same concepts and the same plays and look to try to get the ball in the same places. I would imagine that Joe [Burrow] being a little younger, he's going to be a little bit more mobile, but we'll have to be ready for whatever happens Sunday.
Q: Is there any uncertainty? Do you think there's any gamesmanship over there from Cincy, not announcing their starting quarterback?
MV: No, I mean, that's their – they haven't activated him off of the IR. So again, whatever they decide to do, they decide to do.
Q: Mike, we were talking with Zak Kuhr yesterday about how Zac Taylor likes to kind of unstick receivers when they expect man, and he mentioned stacks and bunches. I'm curious, when you guys are in the tight red zone, how do you decide when you want to lock and level certain times or combo those things heading into a game?
MV: Maybe route concepts or sometimes things that we've shown, or there are different ways to try to self-scout and see how you've done those things, whether they're motioned into it or aligned to it.
Q: You talked a lot about Drake's [Maye] leadership over the offseason and during training camp. How have you seen him continue to grow in that area during the regular season?
MV: I think it's improving. I think there are things we're always trying to work on, whether that's as a coach or as a player, the things and the impact that we have on the football team that aren't physical, that maybe somewhat are emotional in our ability to reach players. Drake's part of that and working hard at it. Again, there's a lot of, I would say, as a quarterback or head coach, there's a lot more people that you have to impact and reach. So, I think that whether that's a skill player, running back or an offensive lineman, those are all just different personalities. So, it's getting to know all those guys and what are the things that they'll respond to.
Q: You mentioned that both the head coach and the quarterback sort of share that responsibility. Is that something that you talk to him about and ways to effectively do that?
MV: Yeah, I think in our own personality, in our own way, we've talked about this ad nauseum. I mean, we're different people. I think it didn't take you guys long to figure that out. But again, he has to impact our organization off the field, just the same as he has to on the field. That's what you sign up for when you're a starting quarterback in the National Football League.
Q: You've had good continuity on the offensive line so far. How have you just seen that unit gel together as a whole throughout the season?
MV: We've had good stretches. We've had some plays we'd like to have back, and the only thing that matters is what they do on Sunday. We've had good continuity, like you mentioned, tried to maintain and get guys ready, making sure that the guys behind them are ready. But the only thing that matters is what they do on Sunday, how they play against the Bengals and what they're going to be able to do to us.
Q: What did you see from Rhamondre [Stevenson] this week as he nears his return?
MV: I mean, I would say that there weren't many restrictions and that he responded well to the practice. I would say that as long as there were not any setbacks here that he'd be in line to play.
Q: I was going to ask you about – Tavai set the tone on special teams, I thought, last game. You've got some other options to help fill that void?
MV: Yeah, we've got some bigger-bodied guys in [Bradyn] Swinson, [Elijah] Ponder, Otis Reese could come up from the practice squad. I would say Anfernee's [Jennings] done that, is to try to play physical and be big on the kickoff. You go down there, you see him at the point of attack sometimes, creating some disruption and making sure that happens. Really at this point in the season, it's all hands on deck for everything that we're trying to do.
Q: Mike, you guys had great health this year, knock on wood. How much, if anything, is different from when you were working with Frank [Piraino] in your last years at Tennessee to kind of the program you have now?
MV: Not a whole lot. These things kind of come and go. It's just, there's going to be some injuries that we're just not going to be able to avoid. Like I tell everybody, the injury rate in the National Football League is 100%. You play long enough, you're guaranteed to get hurt. I think the biggest thing is that when injuries happen, are the players are doing everything that they can to get back? Again, that's a testament to them, it's a testament to the training staff and the strength and conditioning staff that they can get them back in a short amount of time. I'm not going to sit there and say that there's some magic formula. There's just not. I think that when the players are able to stay healthy, stay on the field and help us, that's a positive. When they can't, then we have to do everything that we can to get them back as quickly as possible in order to help the football team, and so that's what we're focused on.
Q: Mike, for a guy like Andy [Borregales] and the job that he's stepped into this year, how many conversations do you have with Jeremy [Springer] week to week about his preparation and how he's getting used to the NFL workload? Or do you go and have those conversations one-on-one with Andy just to check in on him and where he's at?
MV: Yeah. And I think I'm always trying to talk to those guys and monitoring how many kicks and how many times we're kicking each week. That's a pretty violent action when you're talking about kicking and the kickoffs in the game and seeing how they respond. Do we kick on Thursdays? Just trying to find different things that when they don't kick on Wednesday, what's the mental approach? What's the — this field goal protection is something that's critical. And so making sure that we practice that every day so that Andy has confidence that guys aren't going to come through. I mean, there's four kicks blocked every week, it seems like. We don't want to be victim to that. So we try to practice it and then just his ability to mentally approach seeing the snap and seeing the hold and whatever it is he's doing and planting. And he may not physically kick it. But I think that's the biggest thing, is just mentally being in the right spot.
Q: Jared Wilson mentioned he changed up his stance last week based on some advice you gave him. I'm curious what led to that advice and what are the advantages of a two-point versus a three-point stance?
MV: It wasn't advice. It was a suggestion to try to help the player. That's all.
Q: We talked to you a couple of weeks ago about team speed and the importance of team speed and you guys have kind of flashed over the course of the year. Did a quick poll in the locker room. Three names came up as the fastest guys on the team - Marcus Jones, Kyle [Williams] and TreVeyon [Henderson]. Do you have a vote?
MV: No, I think that the speed that I'm focused on now is the speed in which we recover mentally from a positive play or a negative play. And I think that that's the speed that I'm focused on, is as the head coach, how do I get us back to neutral? How do I get us back prepared for the next situation?
Q: Are you a big momentum guy, Mike? Because I love, like, recover from a positive play. That's so different. Are you a kind of guy that's like we always got to ride this kind of middle ground? Or do you like to ride the momentum of good plays?
MV: I think that you have to be able to build the momentum and take advantage of it. And if you don't have it, you have to try to create it. I don't think that you can be too high. You just have to focus on what's happening next. But certainly, whether there's positive plays and whether that's on offense or defense or the kickoff team is covering it but that's something that has to be built. It doesn't carry over. Momentum doesn't carry over. It's something that's got to be built.
Q: How does having a guy like Kayshon Boutte help the offense in week to week?
MV: He's calming — you know what I mean? He's got a different personality. There's a calmness to him and I appreciate that. I think that there's confidence with the quarterback. I think he's got…it's contested catch. I think he's shown the ability to do that. He's strong at the catch point with DBs that are going to be on body. So, I think that helps. It's good to see him execute earlier in the year. We talked about some of the five-minute stuff, staying in bounds and being somebody that's reliable.
