PATRIOTS HEAD COACH MIKE VRABEL
PRESS CONFERENCE
August 17, 2026
Q: With Devon Witherspoon now signing his extension, does that set a timeline for a deal to get done with Christian Gonzalez?
MV: Everything is pretty unique to itself, and whether that's negotiations, players or the play that we're running— certainly those are unique and individual situations, and I think we'll try to focus on Christian's, and I know he'll focus on his own situation. So, we'll continue to work through that, and he'll continue to try to improve and try to get back out on the field.
Q: Will we see him today or—
MV: I would not anticipate that. I think he's just in the return to play.
Q: [Christian] Barmore in the same camp?
MV: Getting closer. He may do a little bit more.
Q: Coach, based on what you see this week, will that determine if guys play Saturday, or is that something you've decided ahead of time?
MV: No, I think you have to use the work that we get and how good the work goes, I think, and as long as we get what we set out to accomplish. I mean, two days of joint practices with a lot of reps, I think upwards of probably 28 reps, 30 reps for the first group on each day is a good number. Make sure that the intensity is there, and then we'll evaluate.
Q: On the team practicing with loud music inside yesterday at the walkthrough:
MV: Yeah, it's hard to be able to get those types of things outside or in a preseason game, and so we're just trying to work on all those things that we're going to need throughout the season, and I thought that that would be a good time to do it.
Q: Is there anything you have you learned about the team coming out of the joint practice that you can use into Philly?
MV: We have to just continue to be more consistent, we have to continue to understand the opponent changes, that what we see in the beginning of practice is usually going to be some of the same things that we see in the end. If you don't fix problems or get things addressed or recognize new plays, that's going to be what it's like in the game. So, I don't know if I learned anything other than we have to continue to keep improving, and that's the goal.
Q: How different is your approach with two days, Mike, rather than one?
MV: I don't think it's much different. I think that we'll be able to do a lot more field work on the first day and then probably focus on the red zone the next day, but other than that, we tried to put everything into one day versus Indy, and now we'll have much more concentrated work the second day in the red zone.
Q: . Andrew [Rupcich] going down and then dealing with his injury, is that a position you'd like to add more veterans to, or do you like the younger group?
MV: Well, I think we have to be able to evaluate the younger group and see what they do here this week and in a competitive setting and then also in the game, and then always keep our eyes open to what it looks like around the league.
Q: Mike, mentioned earlier in camp that we might see Caleb [Lomu] at guard. I don't think we've seen it yet in camp. Is that something that you guys might do now that you're dealing some injuries?
MV: Yeah, you certainly could. I think we just, what happens is, where do you feel like he can make the most strides, and you don't want to derail the improvement that he's making and some of those things. And so I'm probably much like you guys and say, "Hey, that it's not that big of a deal to go from tackle to guard." I've got a lot of coaches that probably think differently than what you guys and maybe me think, and that it's a little bigger deal, but I think Caleb's been working hard. He's been trying to improve, but I think at some point we will need to do that as well, and that's just trying to be fair to the kid and the player as he's developing and learning this game and this league, and then at some point in time probably have to take a look in there.
Q: Mike, tight end is a spot that I think can be difficult for rookies just to grasp all the responsibilities and everything. With Eli [Raridon], how is he doing with that process of getting used to NFL speed, getting the playbook down, and seemingly like drinking from a fire hose?
MV: Probably fairly well. I think it could always be better. I think that he's done some good things. I think he's learning. He rarely makes the same mistake twice. If we coach him on something or he didn't like what he did on one day, he usually comes back the next day and does a decent job at it. You can see him consciously trying to do the things that we're asking him to do, and I think we're headed in a good direction, but a long ways to go.
Q: How close is the league to having starting quarterbacks not playing all the three preseason games?
MV: I really just focus on the Patriots and not the league. I don't know what other teams are doing. That's certainly a question for 32 teams. So, what we're trying to do is—
Q: Do joint practices certainly help that?
MV: Yeah, I mean, you get a lot of intensity, but you see a lot of different looks, and teams are running a lot more stuff than they would run in the preseason in the game and putting it on film, if that's what you mean. Stuff that we saw from Indianapolis in practice, we didn't see from them in the game. We saw basically one or two blitzes and a lot of other base defenses.
Q: How do you feel the run game is progressing, and do you have to manage expectations at all, given how important time on task is and all the movement that you guys have had on that side?
MV: It's probably hard to tell. I think it could always be better, but it's not live, so you don't know if guys break tackles and receivers are trying to come get safeties that are three yards from the line of scrimmage. Do you want them to go nail them and then knock them into the other guys? So, I think that there's a fine line there in trying to figure out what the run game looks like and what it will look like, and there's been some good runs. There's been some times where it's been one guy, but still not a very good play. So there's, I think, good things and there's some things that would have to be better, but we want to take care of our guys. We want to make sure that we're staying up and we're not creating piles, and sometimes those receivers going down to get those guys in support creates a little funky angle, and we ask them to take care of each other. So, in a game, maybe the guy is able to block them by the hole, and in practice, sometimes that doesn't happen.
Q: [Elijah] Ponder appeared to make the most of his opportunities last year, and then, obviously, because of the state of the room, he's even getting more this year. How do you feel like he has handled maybe some of that increased role?
MV: I think good. I think he continues to just be more comfortable and understand what the game is and what it is from a special teams standpoint, what it is from a first and second down standpoint, what some of the formations are, what he may be looking at, some of his keys, doesn't seem to be overly stressed or panic.
Q: How do you feel Gabe [Jacas]' progress has been now that he's been active for a couple weeks?
MV: Okay. I think that it needs to be better. It was better on Saturday than it was in the game. We pointed some things out to him in the game, and I felt it was really cool of him to be able to make those corrections and look at some of the body positions that we feel like he should be in, and he was really conscious of those, and I saw those things translate in just a quick, short amount of time from the meeting after the game to Saturday's practice.
Q: From the outside, Cory [Durden]'s a guy who really kind of grew into the role last year, kind of grew into his change of role. What is the biggest thing for you that stood out about him and his development as a player and his new –
MV: Well, he played hard, has great energy, it means a lot to him, it's important to him. He's easy to coach. You can coach him hard, and he usually tries to make the corrections and comes back, and I think he has continued to improve. He's played well in the run game, flashed a little bit of first and second down pass rush, being able to get into the pocket, so.
Q: On how Kayshon Boutte has approached camp:
MV: Yeah, there's a lot of guys that we talk about the professionalism, and this is the situation, you show up to camp, you compete, and then you try to earn a role, and that's what everybody's trying to do, and Kayshon included. So, I appreciate what he does each and every day, made a huge play for us yesterday in a two-minute – or the other day. These days just run together, so I apologize. But he made a huge play for us, just like he did last year, multiple times when we called on him. So, he's ready to go, he's prepared, and he's trying to earn a role on his football team.
Q: What have you seen from the unselfishness of the wide receiving room? It was talked about a lot last year. Have you seen the same thing this year?
MV: Yes, there is one football. And I don't get to throw it. We have a quarterback that gets to choose who he throws it to and hopefully, it is the guy that is open and then the progression in which that we install it. So, you have to kind of be -- every guy wants the ball, everybody wants to score touchdowns, everybody wants the ball, but that's not realistic. So, when we do not throw it to you, we would like to see a transition and try to block, go block somebody, and I see that from guys. I see guys— one guy will have a good day, somebody else may not have as big a day and then it kind of switches. So, I think it is a good problem to have and everybody knows that if they are doing their job, that the ball is going to find them.
Q: What have you liked about Jacob Rizy as he starts his NFL career?
MV: He's battled, he's competed, he's studied. For a young center to go in there, it was good. I didn't think that the game— the way that he got thrown into the game by injury, was too big for him. He was prepared, and again, I think he'll continue to work and understand that this is a little different game than probably what he was used to in college, but he is figuring it out, figuring out angles, and those things are so critical for interior linemen where they have to go to get backers at the second level. These guys maybe react a little quicker at this level, so I have to take a little better angle.
