PATRIOTS HEAD COACH MIKE VRABEL
PRESS CONFERENCE
December 24, 2025
Q: Yesterday we tabbed Garrett [Bradbury] our good guy award winner. Has he been a good guy for you?
MV: Yeah, great. Aa lot of additions in the offseason and Garrett was one of them. He's been out there in the middle of our offense and helps coordinate everything that we do with the line of scrimmage. He's brought a lot of experience and brought a lot of knowledge. So, again, has really helped us. We've got, hopefully, a lot of football left to play. It's a great honor for him to be able to represent our football team to you guys and in a positive way. I'm a little disappointed I didn't win that in my eight years here.
Q: Mike, how important is this week for you as a football team, but also on and off the field with the players, their families and what they look to?
MV: It's just always a balance that we wage on these holidays with Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's. Trying to have a balance of getting the work done that we need. Trying to focus on what's important here at work, practicing, and then when that wraps up and we're done, being able to compartmentalize, go, be with family and the people that come in and have helped our players, our coaches and our staff get to where they are. None of us did this on our own. There's a lot of people that have helped us get here, made sacrifices, and so anytime that we can have to spend with them on important days, I'm all for it. But then, most importantly, is what we do on the field, like you said, on Sunday.
Q: What's allowed Craig Woodson to come here and make an impact as a rookie?
MV: Well, a lot of experience, one. I mean, Craig was in college for a while. We joke about it, but he's started and played a lot of games, seen a lot of football. But I think he's continued to learn, understand and develop, he's gotten better each day, and he's been durable and available. The more that you're out there, usually the better that you get.
Q: What made him the game captain? What was the thought process?
MV: We had gone through most everybody and there's other options, I think, obviously, but just trying to – thought it was the right time with Craig, the amount of snaps that he's played for us, what he's done and just trying to continue to build the young players on this roster, whether that's on the field, developmental, a leadership role or whatever that may be. I guess that was just the idea.
Q: Robert [Spillane] was out last week. Do you expect him to practice at all this week in preparation –
MV: I don't, unless we get a Christmas miracle. Tiny Tim starts walking or something.
Q: Christian Gonzalez mentioned that, very early on, you talked about winning the division. Why was it important to express that to the group and put that out there early in your tenure?
MV: I think just to make sure that everybody understood what the expectations were. That there's a lot of ways to win football games in this league with a lot of different players, a lot of different lineups, a lot of different schemes and however we need to do to win football games, but that was going to be the goal. Making sure that they all understood that, making sure that they knew that this was the priority and that's what we've tried to do. Now, we haven't done it. We still have opportunities to do it, but just making sure everybody understood what the expectations were.
Q: Is D'Ernest [Johnson] ready to take on a bigger workload?
MV: Yeah, I mean, again, we'll take him off the field and then somebody else will – "Well, this guy's not getting that." We've only got one football, so we'll try to – but he is prepared. It was unfortunate his first week that he busted his tail to get in there on that Thursday night game, we hand to him, a huge run, questionable holding call, and he had some other plays in that first game. I actually joked with him yesterday. I said, "Hopefully, if you get in there, we rip a couple runs off there, you make a couple plays that they don't get called back." And he was laughing. But he's done nothing but come in, be a professional, learn and be ready to go, and I know that when his opportunity comes, he'll take advantage of it.
Q: Coach, talk about Thayer Munford [Jr.] and the job he's done in your six O-line packages coming in. He's been doing a lot more of that this season, going with that 22-rhyno stuff. Just talk about him and what he's brought to the team.
MV: You saw a different Thayer, I think, than the one that left here. And again, having spent time with another team, came here, and I think it was okay. And then getting claimed by Cleveland, coming back, I think we all, including Thayer, saw a different version of him. One that was much more prepared, ready to go physically and has done that role before. He's helped us, hopefully, and whether he plays tackle or both spots on the offensive line. So, I think we've just seen a different version of Thayer, and I think he's trying to take advantage of his opportunities.
Q: What stands out to you from the Jets' play style and where they'll challenge you?
MV: Well, up front, I really enjoy watching their offensive line. I think it's a good group, it's a very young and talented group on the outside. I love the play demeanor of the guys inside, with [Josh] Myers, [Joe] Tippmann and [John] Simpson. They come off the ball, they're good in their combinations, so they really allow the runners, but mostly Breece [Hall], to get going. There's not a whole lot of first contact, and he's able to – he averages over 4.2 yards a carry. So, I like that group, they moved us last time. They ran the football against us. The recipe for winning is not going to be to run for 65 yards and give up 140 yards on the ground. I've told the team that multiple times. So, athletic, defense, young, playing some young guys. Obviously, with [Will] McDonald [IV] and him continuing to get better, and his length, Jermaine Johnson, [Jowon] Briggs, and then obviously, [Harrison] Phillips is the steady in case. And their linebackers are fast. They run – they're fourth tackled for loss percentage. So, if you don't come off on them, or you don't get somebody up to them, they're going to make the tackle, and they're going to be there in a hurry. So, we'll have to do a great job of trying to get somebody on those linebackers.
Q: I know he had an up and down start to the regular season, but maybe what's impressed you the most about Andy [Borregales] and the way he's kind of settled into the job?
MV: He's done a nice job. He's been accurate. I think that he's kept a good demeanor. I think he's practiced well as far as just mentally, in talking about the weather and finding whatever that is. Tom [Quinn]'s coached kickers in all different climates, but I haven't. So, whatever the plan is to prepare to kick in the weather, and all these different things that he's trying to do, or has done. I just think he's got a pretty steadying demeanor, has worked to improve in the consistency with his approach and all those other things.
Q: Mike, Rhamondre [Stevenson] was saying that he maybe enjoyed a blitz pickup in the series before the final series more than the 21-yard touchdown. How does that make you feel as a coach when you hear the running backs talking like that?
MV: Well, they have a critical job, and anybody – not anybody – but most players in the league, if you hand it off and there's a hole, they're going to score. But very few can, one, handle the mental challenge of what the protection is and what the scan is, and, "I've got will to weak safety." Or I've got whoever you have, and being able to – some of these presentations that the defenses present, you may be up in the line of scrimmage, have to get back out and be able to block somebody, and then physically being able to do it, stand up to them, block them, stop their charge, not drop your head and all these different things. And so, I think that that is something that he does very well. And again, when your best player's the quarterback, it's important that you protect them. So, I appreciate that, but that doesn't surprise me.
Q: A couple of coaches and quarterbacks have weighed in on the merits of pure progression passing against coverage reads. Where do you –
MV: Throw to the guy that's open, in the progression and where that progression takes you. The first one that you see. That usually leads to positive yards, it limits negative plays. Obviously, there's times where we're going to have to hold the ball, move guys down the field and progress. So, I try to keep it as simple as possible, because I think that holding the ball in this league just leads to turnovers, to sacks, to longer yardage, and the more that the quarterback gets hit, the more negative things have a chance to happen. Turnovers, all the other obvious things.
Q: The kickoff returns for the Jets, they lead the league in kickoff return average. What do you see in terms of that?
MV: Great scheme, excellent players, very good returners. We'll have to cover with a purpose this week. Obviously, they have a running back that really runs through arm tackles, and has done a great job of doing that. [Adonai] Mitchell, obviously, is a great punt returner, but those skills have translated over to the kickoff return. So, as much as they kick away from Kene [Nwangwu], now Mitchell's getting a lot of those, or [Isaiah] Williams is getting a lot of those. So, we'll have to make sure that we're good, that the space is limited, and again, one guy's probably not going to be able to do it and get him down. Special teams have been a very, very strong point for these guys. Faked a punt, the punt returns have been a weapon, 14-yard average, two touchdowns, one called back. So, these are making sure that we're matching everything that they do from a special teams standpoint. Critical phase.
