PATRIOTS HEAD COACH MIKE VRABEL

PRESS CONFERENCE
June 2, 2026

MV: Just a couple of housekeeping items here. Doug Marrone is going to get his knee cleaned up. We work our coaches pretty hard here, just like our players. I think it's best to have that done now, so that Doug will be ready to go for training camp. There won't be any setbacks. If you don't see Doug out there, that's what's going on there. We have moved, after some deliberation, the mandatory minicamp to next week, June 9, 10 and 11. That will give us Monday to clean up a couple of physicals on some guys that weren't here previously, and then three days of really good work there. That will conclude the veteran offseason program. We'll have the rookies for a little bit of time after that. Joint practices, as well as those worked out last year, certainly the one day with the Commanders here, and then traveling to Minnesota. We'll have Indianapolis on August 11, which will be a very good team to go against. This is a very good offensive football team. Shane [Steichen]'s an excellent offensive coach and excellent head coach. A very good offensive line, versatility on their defense. So, that will be an important day for us. Philadelphia will come here for the 19 and 20 of August. That will allow us to work against an accomplished football team that's used to winning and has a very good football team, great players and are well-coached. The last item. Congratulations. So, Julia [Palin] just decided to dabble in a marathon in Oregon, and ran it in two hours, 50 minutes, and two seconds and won. So, congratulations Julia, and don't keep those things a secret.

Q: Given your relationship with A.J. Brown, knowing him as a person and player, how important was it for you to make that deal happen?

MV: I think just trying to improve our football team every possible way, give our offense multiple weapons to build on what we did last year. I think having experience with the person, to be able to add an accomplished NFL football player, receiver, premium player at his position, but somebody that we also feel strongly about as a person, a competitor and a teammate. I appreciate Eliot [Wolf] for being able to work and get that done.

Q: Mike, knowing A.J., in your eyes, what makes him such a special wide receiver?

MV: I think he loves football. I think he has a physical skill set, he's got great body control, he's strong at the catch point. But I also think as he's grown as a player and as a receiver, just the nuances of releases versus press, playing versus bracketed coverages or zone coverages. He plays physical with the football and has been a productive and consistent player.

Q: When you coached him, did A.J. ever tell you that he was a Patriots fan?

MV: I think that was known a long time. I think I knew that. I think he showed me pictures when he was a little kid wearing my jersey and stuff like that. He didn't wear my jersey. I think I knew when we drafted him, he was like, "I wished the Patriots drafted me." And I said, "That didn't happen. The Titans drafted you." I think there's the success that this team had in those years when a lot of our players were growing up, it would be easy to root for a lot of players that played for this team in the early 2000s.

Q: Mike, he had a tumultuous time in Philadelphia despite the production and the success they had. Why are you confident that won't happen to you?

MV: I think I can't say that there's not going to be things that come up with A.J., with any single player. I think this is a competitive game, highly competitive. Players want to win, players want to do everything they can to help their team. They want to make sure that people are on the right page. I don't get into a lot of that. I think what's most important is that those things don't carry into the locker room, that they get handled, and you see that all the time on the sidelines. We want to have conversations in the meeting room, we want to have conversations at practice. And sometimes those conversations are animated, but it's all in the sake of trying to get on the same page and get right. Again, I don't know what happened. I'm not trying to figure out what happened in Philadelphia. I'm trying to focus on what's going to happen here and trying to get him acclimated to what we do and how we do it.

Q: Mike, there's been a lot of reporting about him having a degenerative knee condition. You're obviously comfortable enough to make the trade for him, but is that something, because of your past history, you gain a little more comfort, and you'll have to manage this player going forward?

MV: Again, when you get to talk about 90 guys or 91 guys, there's going to be a different plan for every single guy. And again, I think that looking at the body of work and the availability that he's been able to have, and whether we have to manage him or anybody else. It's a long season; there will be things that we'll have to deal with, and we'll try to do that accordingly. But just based on looking at his availability in the games that he's been able to play in and be there for his team, I think that hopefully leads to future availability.

Q: Mike, what do you know about A.J. that you hope we and his teammates learn about him?

MV: That he loves football, that he cares about his team. I think he is knowledgeable. And I think that he doesn't have to prove anything to anybody. Nobody does. They have to go out there and practice. They have to know what to do. They have to play to a certain identity, do their job, and focus on that. Nobody needs to do anything that's outside of what we've ever asked any of our players to do. And I'm confident that he'll do that. And he's humble. I'm excited to have him get to know our players, and our players get to know him and everybody else as we work through the last couple weeks here.

Q: Mike, is the plan for him to play under the contract that he had with the Eagles?

MV: He's been here a day. The plan is for him to practice and try to get acclimated. I don't see anything that would preclude him from doing that. Right now, I'm excited to add the player. I know the football team is looking forward to having him practice, get acclimated and whatever that looks like today. But by all accounts, he's ready to go.

Q: Mike, obviously you gave up a first-round pick to get him. Do you view this as a win-now move?

MV: We have to win. That's our job, is to win. It's a job and responsibility, and the expectation in the National Football League. It's not to go 4-13 two years in a row, if that's what you mean.

Q: Mike, what went into the decision to put Julian Hill on IR?

MV: Julian won't be able to play this season. That's plain and simple. Devastating, awful. Really enjoy the person, and want to have him around here as much as we possibly can. But that's just because he wouldn't be able to play this season. So, that's just disappointing because of the impact that he made in a short amount of time with his teammates, and just the person that he is, the way that he practiced. We want Julian to be a part of us as much as possible. He's just not going to do that on the field this year.

Q: Mike, is that something that happened in practice?

MV: That was something that happened in practice, yes.

Q: Mike, just confirming, did A.J. already take his physical? Did he pass it? If so, what do you expect from his practice participation today?

MV: Yep. A.J. passed the physical and will be out there in some capacity. We'll have to monitor it, just because he hasn't been with us. I think it's important that we do that, but also important that he be out there and kind of see how we do things. I'm sure there are 32 different stretching routines, 32 different individuals and kind of where everything goes. I think that's an important process too. Hopefully, he can know enough to line up and take some snaps in some of the team periods as well.

Q: A.J. went out wide 80% of the time last year with the Eagles. You mentioned the intelligence. Do you see him as more of an X in your system or more of a chess piece?

MV: I think all the guys right now are going to learn a lot of the different positions. I think the ones that have been here - that's how Todd [Downing]'s tried to install the offense, is to know what each player has on each concept and learn it that way. I would imagine that A.J. would do the same, and give guys the ability to line inside, Kyle [Williams], or line outside and use Romeo [Doubs] inside. Right now, he's going to have to learn one position, and I would imagine that's going to be outside. But as that grows, I know that will be across the board. I think that's hopefully something that he's looking forward to do. But you have to learn one before you can learn them all.

Q: Mike, just curious with the event with Drake [Maye] the other day, what was it like to see the team come together in that way, show support, also have that little competitiveness, but also just the camaraderie of the team?

MV: I think it speaks volumes to Drake Maye and Ann Michael [Maye], just the people that they are to organize something like that for the fans, where it was and the amount of the families that were out there. That's 10,000 people. I would say most of them were families. The support that he got from the players - and I could imagine when they saw that it may rain, that guys could've bailed on him, and I think it was just an amazing night, a fun night. A little bit of competitiveness. Some guys that were better at softball than I thought. Marcus Jones played one hell of a second base. I was pretty impressed. I think the guys had a good time, and it was for a great cause.

Q: I saw you hitting a crying face toward Christian [Gonzalez] at one point. Did your competitiveness come out a little bit?

MV: No, I was not. I was trying to coach. The umpires were not interested in any of our replays. We thought, at that point in time, it was 7-0, we had to try to keep this thing close, and they didn't want to try to do that. So, just having fun, and it was great to see Gonzo and everybody else that came to support Drake and Ann Michael.

Q: Mike, you guys have been linked to A.J. for quite some time now. At what point did you know that this is the move that you guys wanted to make?

MV: I think there were conversations early on, and then those stalled and we had to wait. Then Eliot texted me yesterday afternoon sometime after 4:00 that it got done and I said, "Great job, thank you. When's he coming in?"

Q: Mike, with the addition of Romeo and A.J., obviously some guys in that wide receiver room won't get the same amount of opportunities as last year. Do you feel like you need to communicate with those guys about that, or just let it play out in practice?

MV: Practice is critical. I think the opportunities that everybody gets are going to be earned, and I think there's a spot for everybody. I think that guys give us reasons to give them opportunities. They create their own opportunities. I can't predict the future. I don't know what that means. I know that I'm excited about the different versatility and the different skill sets that we have, and guys are continuing to improve. Kyle, there was a drop yesterday that led to an interception. Quick conversation with Kyle just saying, "Hey listen, that's the first quarter. There's nothing we can do about it." Hope the defense can hold them to a field goal. Shortly thereafter, he was able to create a 60-yard touchdown and make a hell of a catch. That's why you practice and why you try to script the practices as similar to a game as you possibly can. It's a long game, there are going to be mistakes that happen early on in the game. It's how we respond to them, and it was really good to see Kyle do that. There are a lot of guys in there that are working hard, and hopefully Drake just throws to whoever is open.

Q: There appears to be a contract situation involving Christian Gonzalez. Are you hoping or working toward resolving that so you see him at minicamp and down the road?

MV: I think the contract is the business and the professional side of this. The personal side, I don't want to let anything interfere with that. I want Christian to be ready when he comes back. I would imagine that he would be here next week. If he is, then we'll coach him, be ready to move on, and get him ready to help us and help himself. Contracts are part of professional sports, I understand that. But I also know that those should remain private. Like any contract negotiation, you want to make sure that everybody feels like they get something out of it, and I'll leave it at that.