PATRIOTS HEAD COACH MIKE VRABEL
PRESS CONFERENCE
December 10, 2025
MV: I just want to send anything that we can and well wishes to Kevin and Latisha Faulk. Obviously, we're all heartbroken. Kevin was a teammate. He's a huge part of this legacy here of this football team, and the impact that he made here, coaching in college and how much he loved LSU. There's no words to describe what they're going through, but I just wanted to make sure that everybody knows that we care deeply about Kevin and his family, and our thoughts and our prayers are with them.
Q: Given the stakes, the atmosphere and the opponent, win or lose, do you see this game as kind of being valuable prep for what may lie ahead, assuming you get into the postseason?
MV: Well, I hope that everything we do – we only have 17 opportunities, so all of that has to be valuable prep. They all count the same at the end. This is a great stage that we put ourselves on, and that's exciting, but obviously, hopefully, we've been able to draw from different opportunities that we've had to help us. And so, what we're focused on is the previous opportunities that can help us this week, and then whatever we're able to learn from the game on Sunday going forward to help us the next week. That's what we're trying to do.
Q: Mike, what are some of the challenges of the second meeting within the division that you've seen over the years?
MV: They've changed, they've continued to evolve and they've continued to improve. And again, we talked about the respect that we have for them as a football team, players and coaches. You just draw on some games here in the past. I mean, it was 20-10 in our game, they didn't bat an eye and they came back and tied it in the fourth quarter. We were up two scores in the fourth quarter. We needed our best execution and kick to win it. Whether it was the Tampa Bay game, being down and then winning the game, going away. Pittsburgh, down 7-3, and then really just played tremendous football in the second half. And then last week, two-score game with eight minutes to go in the fourth quarter. So, never any panic over there. It's a veteran team. They're familiar with their program. So, however the game unfolds, we'll have to do everything that we can to play the entire four quarters and then some if we need to.
Q: Mike, I know that Buffalo is talented all across the board, but in terms of their offense, how important to Josh Allen is the tight end part of that offense?
MV: I think that's grown. I think that you can see, when [Dalton] Kincaid's back out there, the matchup and his skill set in the passing game, great speed and athleticism, catch radius, very quarterback friendly. Obviously, Dawson [Knox] does a little bit of both. And then [Jackson] Hawes has just been able to really, I would say, not only neutralize, but move the line of scrimmage on his responsibilities. I think they just continue to evolve in that regard and using all three of those guys.
Q: Mike, the oddsmakers in Las Vegas have you as underdogs. So, do you pay attention to that? Do you notice that?
MV: No. I mean, again, it gets brought to attention. I don't think that – every week you see in this league that records really don't mean anything, the point spreads and survivor pools get blown up every week and all that other stuff. So, we're just trying to focus on our preparation here and getting back into it. Had a good day Monday, excited about the meetings thus far today, and then progress through the week.
Q: With Milton [Williams] and Khyiris [Tonga] both being out for the last couple of games, what have you seen from the group of youngsters, specifically guys like Cory [Durden] and Eric [Gregory] in the middle there?
MV: I think Cory's continued to improve and play a lot of football for us, and Eric's taking the opportunities on Thursdays that we've had in those competitive practices to get better. Again, we'll need everybody up front. How important the ability to stop the run is this week. That's just a large part of what they do. They have a lot of confidence in it. Not the only thing that they do. They do a lot of things well, but certainly they're going to run it until you stop them, and then they're going to have everything off of it.
Q: Mike, on Josh Allen's long touchdown run last week, we saw there was a defensive back who was still covering a wide receiver as Josh Allen was running into the end zone. I'm just thinking, well, that's a perfect example why you don't want to play man against Allen. Does he remove things that you can do defensively because of his versatility?
MV: Well, you just have to – again, I don't think you can sit in any one thing, and certainly there's situations where you have to play man in this league and you have to be on body, but then again, there's other things that then have to account when you have an athletic quarterback. How are you going to account for the extra gap or the ability to scramble, to extend plays and all those different things? So, I don't think that there's one particular coverage, defense or blitz that you can sit there and be in the entire game. I think it's about picking the opportunities and then when you get an opportunity to make a play on him, you've got to do everything that you can to get him on the ground, not jump when he pump fakes, fall down when he stiff arms you or anything else.
Q: Mike, in Week 5, you held James Cook [III] to under 50 rushing yards. I'm just curious, when you look back at that film, what allowed defense to be so effective in limiting their run game?
MV: Well, I think the way that we were able to get a lead there probably limited some of the carries in the second half and the way that the game unfolded. But, I think early on – and the ability for our offense to possess the ball. We'll have to do everything we did in that game and then some to try to neutralize him in the run game.
Q: Mike, how enjoyable has it been to coach Mack Hollins this season? What's he meant to this team?
MV: Mack brings a great spirit to work every day. He's a great teammate. I actually showed a clip from the first game on a kickoff coverage, and Mack's over there excited, not going in the game, but he's into it. Somebody made a tackle and Mack's the first one cheering on the sidelines, and those are the little things that mean a lot, I think, to me. So, again, we ask him to do a lot of different things, and again, I think just the spirit that he brings to work and the teammate that he is.
Q: I believe the Bills use five-man protections at one of the highest rates in the league. What allows them to live in that world, and also, how do you weigh the balance between wanting to play coverage and rushing against that kind of scheme?
MV: I mean, I think with a quarterback – and again, you bring six, and they block five – quarterback's got the sixth one, so he pump fakes him, spins or stiff arms him. I think Josh just has a good ability to know when he's hot or know where he needs to go with the football. Even if it's a four-man rush, I don't think he ever really panics. He's able to extend or just find where he wants to go with football when they do get five out. And then the other question was what? Did you ask me about when do we need to pressure and when do we decide to – I mean, again, we have to mix it up. I think you just have to pick and choose your spots. And again, you want to be sound in everything that you do. You don't want to just leave it up to chance and hope that he's not going to find somebody. You want to make sure that everybody's covered or that zones are accounted for, and that the rush lanes are sound and that you have an ability to defend. And you can't be cautious, but you have to be sound, I think.
Q: Mike, in all your time in the league, what commonalities have you seen in the rivalries you've participated in? Do you see any of those elements possibly here with Buffalo?
MV: I just got here. So again, I know that they've won the division five years in a row. I don't think there was really much of a rivalry for those years. Maybe not, I don't know. I wasn't paying any attention to it. I'm just focused on a very good football team, that is used to winning. They're determined, they're resilient and we'll have to be at our best.
Q: Mike, when it comes to – you mentioned sound rush lanes. Whether you're blitzing or not, how important is it this week against Allen to try to keep him in the pocket?
MV: Well, you can keep him in the pocket. He's just got to stand there and wait for somebody to uncover. So again, that's – I mean, you can keep him in the pocket. You can stand there and we can all just stand there, and he'll do this. You have to just – again, coordinated and relentless is probably the best way to phrase it. Because, again, you say, "Well, keep him in the pocket." And then guys are just standing there and they're cautious, and we don't want to coach that way. We want to make sure that we're trying to remain aggressive, but certainly sound. When he does extend, then we're going to need to plaster and have guys be able to come up and help us.
Q: Mike, how do you feel about the offense's ability to improve some of the short yardage and red zone issues that have come up in the last few weeks?
MV: I feel good. Feel good like I do about everything. We're trying to coach and improve. There's things that we've done really well and there's things that we've done okay. So, again, whatever situation it is that comes up, we'll have to be prepared for it, be able to extend drives no matter what the down and distance is and I think, most importantly, have an understanding of how critical the red zone is when you get down there. And that everything that we've been preaching and talking about, we'll have to continue to execute and make sure that we're doing everything we can to get touchdowns, and the difference that that makes in close ball games. Force them to kick field goals. The same thing can be said defensively. So, I think we were both 2-for-4 last game. And again, in a close game, that's about what it turned out to be. We made a kick at the end. And so, if we can try to get them to kick field goals or attempt field goals, we'll have to try to do everything we can to score touchdowns.
Q: Mike, with Joe Brady, the way he calls the game, obviously they're confident in the run game and Josh. Do you see them as more of a game plan, week-to-week offense or kind of a do-what-we-do operation?
MV: I mean, I think there's elements of both. I think that they have their stuff that's staple, that they dress up a little bit, and they have some game plan plays that show up that they find great ways to disguise and give it a different presentation.
