PATRIOTS HEAD COACH MIKE VRABEL
PRESS CONFERENCE
August 4, 2025
Q: It's been a couple days and we haven't chatted with you since the in-stadium practice. The offense had some issues, they were kind of sloppy, a couple of interceptions. Rhamondre [Stevenson] put the ball on the ground. Just curious on your thoughts.
MV: Yeah, the turnovers – I thought we did some really good things, tried to show them that. The turnovers are certainly going to get us beat. We had some passes that should have been caught. We had some – I would say, decisions, right? I think. And hopefully when we ask a receiver to run a play like that, that if it's not there, there's other ways to get out of the play. If you continue to run, you've got a pocket, you can throw it away. So, those are great things to teach on in those specific instances. And Rhamondre, when you make a great cut and you break through, know that every team in the league, and hopefully ours is one of those teams, that the guys are coming to the ball and they're going to come and hammer it and they're going to play full tilt to the tackle. And so, cut, great cut, good job in the open field and, unfortunately we'll have to continue to rep that and take care of football. But that's something that – those things that you mentioned, I think, overshadow a lot of the good stuff that we did in a team setting that had the team split up and different guys working with different guys next to them.
Q: Mike, Rhamondre fumbled seven times last year. I know you weren't here. Does he get, like, a fresh, clean slate from you?
MV: Well, everybody has a fresh, clean slate. We like to go through those things, and some of that is technique, some of that is the second guy in. A lot of times on fumbles, if you want to talk fumbles and ball security, I'm happy to do that, but one person's got to have the ball in their hand every play offensively, and the rest of those 10 players are going to be responsible for protecting the guy with the ball. And so, yep, there were some instances where he put it on the ground, and there were some instances where the second guy came in, and we need to eliminate the second guy from coming in by the way that we play and our play demeanor and the way that we finish. So a clean slate, everybody has a clean slate, but also, there's things that have to change and be better at every position as we move toward the season.
Q: With Alex Austin's interception toward the end of the game, how much of that was good situational awareness from him, and how much of that maybe could have been a better situation?
MV: Well, I mean, we would need to make it – if the corner is flat-footed, we probably would throw it over his head and live to fight another day. Credit to Double-A [Alex Austin]. And I like sometimes when these things come up, because now we can coach the quarterbacks to say, if the guy's not bailing, he's just sitting there standing flat-footed, and you go over there, it's a yes-no, and you're going to have to just decide. You can't progress back and come over here to the field, you're going to get sacked or strip-sacked. So, throw it over his head. And being able to catch that ball, Double-A, and end it and then explain to him, 'Go down, go down, go down, we have the lead.' These are all great things that come up and allow us to coach. And just like the drive before, we throw one in to Kayshon [Boutte], and Kayshon does a nice job to get us into field goal range, Thomas [Brown] chose to call timeout. He was the head coach, that was his decision. I told the team, 'Hey, listen, we have a couple options. We can now go to the ball. We can clock the ball and be second down. We can center it wherever we want to center it. We can slow-clock it. We can take a knee. I can call timeout with three seconds.' And we kicked the winner. So, those are all things that come up, and they come up organically, and it allows us to teach it and coach it. And I know that this happens. Having done this for however many years, I can show them, but until they actually are in that position – which, they're going to come up with more than we do in two-minute – just like today, we're going to have end of game situations, ball is going to be on the 25-yard line, there's going to be 45 seconds, you're going to see what the last plays are from the 5-yard line or the 10-yard line because that's just where the ball is going to be, I would imagine. So, then we can coach those up and see what it does.
Sorry, that's a long-winded answer. But there's a lot of different situations that come up just by record. And I can show them, but then when they actually are in it, I say, 'OK, now we can coach from our example.'
Q: Mike, come Friday's preseason game, what's your plan with the quarterback rotation and Drake [Maye]?
MV: It's Monday, we're focusing on the red zone, focusing on being real precise down there, not going backwards, not hurting ourselves, defense, defending every blade of grass, making sure that we undercut when we see – all the details for the red zone and hopefully that'll help us in the season. That's where my focus is, getting back to fundamentals, and then when Friday comes around, I'll try to do my best to let everybody know.
Q: Mike, you said that when you were looking forward to the first full-padded practice to identify some of those guys that caught your eye and what have you, now that you've seen some of those players, what do you want from them now from here on out?
MV: Well, I mean, I think continued growth. I mean, we're still in training camp, and so the ones that have continued to show improvement and that have maybe earned some more reps, continuing to do those types of things and to continue to take the next step and begin to compete for a role, and then the ones that have an opportunity to try to get going and maybe they haven't put their best work in.
Q: Mike, we saw Kendrick Bourne leave the field early on Friday. Just, do you have any update on kind of what happened with him?
MV: The update was just kind of got rolled up and he won't be out here. I wouldn't anticipate him this week. So, he'll be working hard to get back, just like everybody else that's not going to be out here.
Q: Mike, any update on the two corners, [Christian] Gonzalez and Carlton Davis?
MV: Other than that, wouldn't expect them at practice today and probably not against Washington on Wednesday.
Q: Mike, we've seen the two kickers kick on alternating days. We've seen them kick on the same days, including in the stadium. What are your impressions thus far?
MV: Well, they both have done very well. I'm sure 19-of-21 or whatever they both are, I think they've gotten better and it's a good competition and I'm glad they both got to kick in the stadium and try to get the extra points and get the end of game kicks and everything that we did. So, just trying to get the volume and try to – every day Jeremy [Springer] and Tom [Quinn] have a plan for them on how they're going to kick.
Q: How do you like what you see from kickoff? You talked about that earlier this year.
MV: Yeah, I think they're working through what that looks like, right? You have a couple of different choices. If you want to try to put it up there high and try to get it as close to the goal line, but don't get cute, can't have the ball at the 35-yard line. And then also some of these, whether they're the low-liner, whatever that may be, I think that's where you talk about practice. We're going to have to figure out what's best for us and decide on something.
Q: Mike, I know everyone's got a long way to go here at camp. Are there any positions you feel like you need to learn more about?
MV: Every single one. I want to continue to learn about our players, about those positions, about the combinations. That's what training camp's for, is really just to get the players in there that can continue to improve and to compete and go from transitioning against our offense to quickly adjusting to what Washington's going to do on Wednesday.
Q: Mike, I know we haven't seen much of Mack Hollins on the field so far, but what have you seen from him off the field helping out some of the younger guys?
MV: Spent a lot of time here in the offseason, locked in, engaged. Rare for a player to be able to get that much information and not practice. That's hard. That's hard just even thinking back when I was in those opportunities to be able to do that and still understand the details and not practicing. So, locked in, ready to go, excited to see him get out there and practice.
Q: Will Campbell said after the in-stadium practice the message to him has been he's either winning his reps or he's learning. How do you feel like he's doing in terms of not repeating mistakes and coming along in his practice?
MV: Very coachable player. He's been out there getting better every day. A lot of versatility in his game and I'm excited about him continuing to work and continue to improve.
Q: What are off-days like around here for coaches and players?
MV: Players get treatment and the ones that are out, treatment's mandatory. Some meet with their coaches, some lift. Coaches get caught up and we'll talk through personnel, who needs more reps, who's earned more reps, who can play different positions and then try to get the coaches out of here too in a reasonable amount of time. They've got family, they've put a lot into this as well. So, I think that there's a good balance to be able to get work done, get ahead and then I have to make sure that I'm going around and getting these people out of here. They put a lot into it.
Q: Mike, we saw some creative celebrations the other night after big plays. Is that something you encourage and if so, why?
MV: Sure, I want to encourage celebrating touchdowns. I want to encourage doing it with teammates. We don't want to sit there and taunt the opponent. We don't want to point the ball or the finger or whatever, anything that's going to cost us 15 yards. We're certainly not going to give the other team 15 yards and we want to try to make sure that we're celebrating as a team. We put a lot into it. When you go down there and plays work and guys make plays they should be excited. So, to think that we should just walk off – we've got to do it in a manner where we've got to come back and kick an extra point, but whatever they decide to do, as long as it doesn't cost us yards, I'm all for.
Q: Mike, Drake [Maye]'s been stating his preferences a little bit with the receivers, how they want to run their routes. It seems like he's shown command or authority over the offense. Do you have any other examples of moments where he's doing that?
MV: Well, there's protections, there's – when you see something that he can help, he sees it a lot better, I think, than some other players or alignment, or if you see something, say something and don't assume that everybody is seeing it the way that you're seeing it. He's got – that's why they're quarterbacks, they have a pretty good sense of what's going on, they've got a good view. Maybe it's rotation, maybe it's an eyes or a step or alignment. And so, just being able for him to communicate that. I see him get guys in the right formations or tell guys, 'Hey, you're off the ball, you're on the ball.' Or, 'Hey, you're over here.' Doing that quickly, as before, sometimes young quarterbacks, they're just focused on the play, they're focused on the cadence and not focused on sideline-to-sideline, and I think that's starting to improve.
