PATRIOTS HEAD COACH MIKE VRABEL
POST-GAME PRESS CONFERENCE
November 9, 2026
Q: Mike, you spoke about wanting guys who want to be here. I think that was this morning and a bit last night. Mack Hollins said something similar in the locker room after the game. Is there a locker room problem?
MV: No, no. I mean, I always appreciate what Mack has to say, and my intent was just to remind everybody that when we want to build a program, we have to have it look a certain way. I think that when you have the most success is when everybody has the same mentality and that they see it the same way. They see it the same way that we have to do all the things that come with winning, and that's the preparation, that's the connection that you have to make with guys that are in there, whether the guys are injured or not. The identity that shows when we win, the ability to take care of the ball, the ability to create turnovers, to get off the field, to play sound and complimentary special teams. That's all-encompassing. And so no, there's not a locker room problem. It's just to say that this is where you're at when you have a game where you fall short like we did last night in a lot of areas, starting with me and the staff, and then obviously the execution on the field. You just want to make sure that everybody sees it the same way and that we've got to get back to work. That's the only thing that you have to do.
Q: How do you feel the intensity has been in practice over the last couple of weeks?
MV: There's only so many opportunities for that intensity, for the full speed reps that we get. And so, those usually come on Thursdays, in the red zone on Fridays. There are mistakes, like there are every week. I don't think it's been detrimental by any means. And then also, some guys aren't even available to practice and they may not take as many reps, and that's nothing new to the National Football League. So, whatever reps we get, we have to make them count. We have to understand, if it's a jog through, how we show the details of the play and make sure that we understand that. There's ways to be able to practice and be successful without just taking 35 full speed reps a day, because I don't think that's realistic right now with where we're at, currently, with our situation and the health of the football team.
Q: Any update on Rhamondre Stevenson? And if he can't go, do you feel like Corey Kiner can carry the workload?
MV: No update on Rhamondre. We're wearing out the MRIs this morning, so still waiting on some of those results. And do I think that Corey can handle that workload? I think Corey is working extremely hard. I think Corey has done a really nice job. But there are also some things that Corey has to be able to improve on, just like a lot of guys, as far as recognition of the pressure and then the ability to block the pressure that we saw yesterday, for example.
Q: Do you feel like everybody's investment level is where you want it to be? It might not be a locker room problem as you're answering Karen's [Guregian] question, but you did say last night you want 48 guys out there next week that care, and I think that might perk people's ears up. Is everybody's investment level where it should be?
MV: Yeah. And again, these are just reminders. These are just reminders of where you get and having been here. Again, these things probably get magnified out of frustration or when you lose. I think that those things are sometimes magnified, so those are just reminders. I don't think that that's saying that we have guys that don't care. That's just like, "This is what we need to have in order to win," and that's the formula.
Q: Mike, it's hard not to notice since Christian [Gonzalez] came back from the shoulder injury that maybe he's not playing at the same level he did prior to. Do you see anything there? Is it technique? What's leading to the struggles?
MV: Again, you can't take a nap in this league. Whoever the receivers are, especially the good ones, you have to play with great technique. You have to challenge when you can. Same thing that happens with all DBs, right? When you don't look back at the quarterback sometimes – and they're going to catch passes; they just have to earn it. Then we have to make sure that everything that we're doing, we know if it's a checkdown that we have to be able to, "Okay, give up," and then we have to be able to rally and break or where we're going to be okay with the football going. And if it goes somewhere else, we're challenging. So again, Christian had a few plays I'm sure that he'd like to have back. I said this: we have high expectations for him, and he certainly does, too. So, I think it's about answering the challenge this week and then coming back. Again, to play corner in this league, you've got to have a short memory, whether that's on the good plays or the negative ones, and I'm confident that he will.
Q: I know you've used the phrase, "Can't take a nap," before, but in this specific instance, what do you mean by that with Christian?
MV: You just can't take a play off or think that they're not going to challenge you or throw the ball at you. That's it. You can't think that you're going to not draw attention. The quarterbacks in this league, the skill players in this league, they run a route and they have a read, and if it's open or they like the look, they're going to take it. And so again, I'm confident with where he'll be, how he'll improve and look at things and he studies it. But obviously it's the entire pass defense last night, which really was ineffective at times and frustrating going into the game. Whether that's in man or zone, some good plays, some well-executed defenses, some impactful plays on the quarterback, and then certainly a lot that left a lot to be desired.
Q: With the team health, would you like to see you guys make a trade tomorrow at the deadline to improve some depth?
MV: I want to see us do anything that we can with the roster that we have or potentially guys that aren't here, to continue to improve. That's the focus here after nine weeks. We played some really good games, have been competitive, and then other days where it just wasn't good enough as a whole.
Q: Do you ever get a sense at this point whether there could be action, or is that something that just happens over the course of tomorrow and the closer you get to the deadline?
MV: Well, I think that we'll see where things go tomorrow. I don't have any update for you now. I don't have any trade to report here today, but we'll see where it goes up until 4:00 tomorrow.
Q: Ben Brown, we also saw him leave the game early after getting rolled up. Do you have any updates on him?
MV: He won't make it this week.
Q: Mike, what's different about preparing for these international games?
MV: I think the schedule. We're going over a day early. We want to try to get work in here as much as we can get done Wednesday, walkthrough Thursday. Then maybe have a day where we're acclimated, where Friday can resemble what we feel like is a Friday practice here. In my past, I think you travel, you land and try to have a Friday practice. I don't know if that necessarily mirrors a Friday practice that we would have here. So, the hope is to try to get over there and to get acclimated enough to where we can have a good day on Friday.
Q: You're in an interesting spot in that you guys have had a lot of injuries. I think by some metrics, looking at the offensive line specifically or the team in general, you've lost a lot of games from guys that would be starters for you. You also have a winning record. With the trade deadline approaching, do you have to take a sobering view of your team, and what is your view of the team right now? Do you view this as a contending team?
MV: Yeah. We're 5-4. I think there's going to be a lot of contending teams that are 5-4. I think that's the nature of the National Football League. We've got to draw a line here. We've got to think that we're 0-0, and we've got to start putting ourselves in position to play meaningful games in January or in the middle of January. It's usually what happens in the National Football League; a bunch of teams get bunched up and they go in different directions, and I know the direction that we're going to head in, and that's going to be the one that's forward, positive and winning.
Q: Going back to the Ben Brown injury, do you anticipate then activating [Greg] Van Roten this week given that?
MV: Yeah, that's something that we'll look at. He's eligible and has been working hard to get back. So, we'll take a look at that and see where he is tomorrow or Wednesday when we practice.
Q: Do you anticipate A.J. [Brown] making the trip to Germany?
MV: Yeah, I think that that's the plan. Certainly, there's no decision on that, but I would imagine that that's the plan. We'll continue to work to get guys back, be healthy and help the football team. That's the goal. So, to be able to answer that right now, today, I can't do that with a few guys. But, I know that the plan is to try to get everybody that can help us to get on the plane on Wednesday, go over there and help us win.
Q: How do you think Drake Maye did? What was Green Bay doing to make things difficult now that you've had a chance to re-watch?
MV: Well, I think that they pressured. We got behind, we turned the ball over too many times, and we've got to stay balanced. We can't just turn it into a drop back game, but sometimes when the game gets to be the point it did yesterday - again, I thought we got it back to a manageable position at halftime and then clearly didn't do enough there in the third quarter. But the turnovers, we know that those are hard to overcome. You can't turn the ball over four times, not create one and think that you're going to have a realistic shot to win in this league. We saw that numerous times, and it just makes it really hard on yourself. But I think that he'll come back, he'll bounce back. He's made a lot of plays for us and helped us win, and he'll continue to do that. He did that at times yesterday. I know Drake, I know he's already back to work and focused on how he can improve and how he can help this football team.
