PATRIOTS HEAD COACH MIKE VRABEL

PRESS CONFERENCE
July 25, 2026

Q: Hi Mike. There's a history of teams who lose in the Super Bowl struggling the following year. Did you do any research, homework, call any coaches who had to deal with that to kind of navigate?

MV: Yeah, I think it kind of speaks for itself. I think that, things—the expectations—always get higher, and we have tried to lay out the expectations when we got here and what we wanted to do. I think just the nature of the NFL and, based on success, the rules, the draft, the schedule, all those things that come into it. And it's our job to recreate the things that we did really well last year: the culture, the ability to win different ways, find ways to win, understand how to win, understand how to prepare. We're going to have a more difficult journey. That's just how it goes each and every year. That's what we're expecting. We want it that way, and we'll prepare accordingly.

Q: Following that up a little bit—when you were a player, your teams were very good at putting whatever you did the year before away and creating a completely new environment and knowing that you haven't won anything. Do you get a sense that this team is like that, that they can forget about last year and just go to this year?

MV: We have that ability. We try to do that each and every week. That's not something that we focus on year to year. We try to focus on that each week, each day. We come in, make corrections, watch the tape, try to look at the good, the bad, and the stuff that gets us beat. We talk about eliminating the stuff that gets us beat, fixing the things we didn't do very well, enhancing the things we did well. That's not just a yearly approach—that's a daily approach, a weekly approach in this league. It's difficult. Whatever you do on Thursday or Saturday or Sunday, you have to address it and move on quickly. I felt like we did that last year, even with success, and we'll start that today.

Q: Fans came running in as they usually do on the first day. It's going to be jammed out there today. What does that mean to you and the team?

MV: The support has been fantastic. We have a very knowledgeable fan base. They know what good football looks like; they know what bad football looks like. When we play good football, they support that, enjoy that, embrace that. We were able to give that to them, and in turn they gave us their support, their energy—everything we needed, especially in those playoff games down the stretch.

Q: Over the last year or so, what's impressed you most about Elijah Ponder in terms of growth and development?

MV: Came in, didn't say a whole lot. He's not a boisterous person by nature. I think he just continued to get better. His confidence probably improved. He earned a role on special teams and then continued to earn a role on defense. He just kept getting better.

Q: When you think about a center and a quarterback working together, what are some of the things you look for with that chemistry?

MV: The unspoken communication—to be able to see it quickly and see it the same, whether that's pressure or a defensive front. To be able to set the defense or get us into the right play. Communication. The center is the conduit to the rest of the offensive line. When the quarterback needs to get something to the line, the center is the easiest way to get it, and his communication to everybody else has to be great. We're looking forward to seeing Jared in that transition and working with Drake.

Q: Any update on Gabe Jacas?

MV: No, not today. Not with Gabe, not yet—not from when we met yesterday.

Q: Is he local?

MV: I do not think that Gabe is local. I don't think he's in New England.

Q: How excited are you about the new guys getting started—A.J. (Brown), Reggie Gilliam, all of them?

MV: We've seen their acclimation into our team and program. I'm not just excited about them, I'm excited about everybody being out there in training camp mode and ramping up from minicamp. Those additions we made—we all felt really good about them. They're going to do everything they can to help us win and prepare to win.

Q: Which situations will you emphasize today, and how will this non‑padded section differ from the spring?

MV: There'll be a few more runs. We have to practice without pads on. There'll be more zone runs to take away some of the double teams and gap‑scheme runs—we'll save pads for that. It doesn't do us any good to install those runs and work on them without pads. We'll work on first and second down. Tempo will be alive. We talk to the players about practicing the same way we want to play. If we hit a play, I reserve the right to go on the ball as long as we're not subbing. We want to practice right now the same way we're going to play. We'll continue to add third down, red zone, two‑minute, short yardage. At some point there'll be a "call it" period once the first week is installed and we will go out, not have a script and just say whatever situation we have.

Q: How do you feel about how he (Drake Maye) handled the different things you threw at him (Drake Maye) in the spring, and how do you continue to push him?

MV: The defense added some things, and that'll come naturally from the looks he's getting there. Just continue to try to operate, be more urgent, get everybody functioning just a little bit quicker. We don't want to go fast - whether we huddle or we go on the ball. Whatever that looks like, we want to be able to try to dictate the defense a little bit. The Urgency in which we operate is something we've all talked about. The communication, always taking care of the ball. We talked about the games we lost last year. Whether that was the quarterback rating - Josh Allen had a better rating than Drake, and that's just not on the quarterback. That's defensively, our ability to affect their quarterback, our ability to help our quarterback. Whether it was the Pittsburgh game, where the turnover margin wasn't where we needed it to be. That's the reason we lost that game. And obviously the Super Bowl. Turnover margin, and their ability to run the football (Seattle) and our ability not to be able to run the football. And then we can get into all the different critical situations – two-minute, five-minute. Buffalo being able to set the table a little better on special teams. Their kickoff return was much better than ours was. So, those are all things we look at and that we're going to focus on. That's how we want to practice and play.

Q: With (Harold Landry III) starting on PUP, is there something that could threaten his availability for the start of the season?

MV: I'm not going to predict that. I'm not going to pretend to predict that. We're going to talk about injuries that could happen, they're 100% in football. At some point and time everybody's going to get hurt. The expectation is they all work extremely hard to get back. That they're where they're supposed to be when they're supposed to be there. They focus on what they can do as opposed to what they can't do. I'm very confident with our return‑to‑play. Where Harold is at the start of the season—I wouldn't be able to tell you right now. He won't be practicing, but he'll be working, and hopefully we'll get him back.

Q: There were a lot of clips last spring and summer that the team released where you were pushing Drake to be more of a leader. How have you seen him grow in that regard and do you feel like you still are going to have to push him in that direction?

MV: I'm going to try and coach everything I possibly can. That's what they pay me to do, is to coach the team where I see. If we don't celebrate, I'll tell him to run down there and celebrate, even though we scored a few touchdowns last year. Don't take touchdowns for granted. And again, it's really hard. I can try to put myself in his position or any player's position that I'm coaching. There's a lot on his plate—he's focusing on doing the right thing and being perfect as he can be, puts a lot on himself. Then it's like, "oh yeah, I just threw a touchdown." Then it's like no, we're going to go celebrate. I think you can define yourself as a leader by how you handle yourself and your teammates when things aren't great. It's easy to go celebrate, but it's harder to stand up and say, "You know what I screwed up." I might have made a mistake in a huddle which caused another player not to do his job. I was able to adjust for my mistake in the huddle or miscommunication but the other player had something else in his mind and that led him to go the wrong way. When you stand up and say "you know what, that's on me," it takes a lot of pressure off somebody else. I'm excited about where Drake's going to be. Just his growth, and Josh (McDaniels), Ashton (Grant), the offensive coaches. Everybody's in just a better position just because we're more comfortable. We still have to go and we still have to push each other. The challenge is to compete and take care of each other when we are out there on the practice field.

Q: What does having almost complete continuity from year one to year two enable you to do this summer?

MV: We just operate a little quicker. Just going through the tape probably a little quicker for the coaches. And then being able to make the corrections, look at the positives and then move onto the instillation in the afternoon. We have a pretty similar schedule most everyday where we'll practice then give the players a little break for them to get treatment or lift or recover. Whatever they need. Then we'll meet. Then we'll have walk through then get them out of here. So, that's kind of how we operate and I think everybody's a little more comfortable with that stuff.

Q: A.J. Brown is still relatively new to the team. How's he looking and fitting in so far?

MV: He did the run test. So, he passed that which was expected. Again, I enjoy having A.J. here, really love him personally and he's going to help our football team. But, we're going to go out there today and we're going to build and he's going to be involved in some plays, and we'll go from there. But, he's had a great attitude and a willingness to learn a completely new system in a short amount of time.

Q: With so many new players coming this year, what part of the culture do you expect to see the returning players to carry over from last year, and what do you expect new players to contribute?

MV: We've always talked about having a singular mindset on winning and what our identity needs to be. And then the personalities. There's going to be different personalities. Our job, and my job, is to find out where everybody's sweet spot is and where their optimal performance is and their attitude. Some guys are sky‑high, some guys are going to be a little bit more even‑keel, and that's fine. That's what makes it a great experience and what makes it a team that everybody is different. They come from different places, but we're going to have one goal and build one identity.

Q: Two BC (Boston College) guys on the roster now. You drafted (Quintavyious Hutchins), signed Jeremiah (Franklin)—what are you hoping to see from them and what is it like coming out of college?

MV: Again, I have a lot of respect for Billy O (O'Brien) at Boston College. Jeremiah is someone we had at local day—we looked at him a lot. The numbers were probably not in his favor at the time and then now I think they are a little bit more favorable. We're able to bring him in. I think he's continued to improve. It looked like he'd been working out. I think he's gotten stronger since March. Certainly with Q, somebody on the edge we're always looking for young pash rushers that can help you. Those guys will have to learn special teams pretty quickly given their body types. That process has already started for Q and Jeremiah will start that process today.