PATRIOTS HEAD COACH MIKE VRABEL
PRESS CONFERENCE
August 6, 2025
Q: Mike, first joint practice, is there anything you're looking for outside of what you typically look for in a regular practice or what's the goal for you?
MV: Well, the goal is just to be able to put the identity out on the field against another team, to put the fundamentals that we put out there, the installation, to be able to do it against another defense, to be able to adjust to different play styles of players, players that maybe are longer or quicker or stronger, just different play styles of each player throughout this league. Worked with a team that we have a lot of respect for, a team that was very good and played their best football late in the season, which is why they had an opportunity late in the season in the tournament, a lot of respect for DQ (Dan Quinn) and his coaching staff, so it just is a good fit.
Q: Mike, how do you use today and Friday to get what you want to see?
MV: Yeah, the game is an extension of practice. The first preseason game is — we're going to play, we'll practice today, we've got some situations and then tomorrow will be the day before, but Friday will be an extension of the work. It'll be a game, and it'll give us an opportunity to go out there, but still just looking at it as a practice opportunity to continue to work and get guys the reps that we think that they're going to need for the season.
Q: What is the game plan for the starters, specifically Drake [Maye] on Friday night?
MV: Again, focused on today and they'll get a lot of reps today, different situations and again, I would say most everybody that's healthy should expect to play in the game. How long they'll play, I don't know, but we have to prepare to play in football games and prepare to win football games. So, that's the mentality that we're going to take.
Q: Mike, what have you been learning about TreVeyon [Henderson] so far?
MV: I mean, he seems to be a quick learner and if there's something that happens in production, he rarely makes the same mistake twice. Great teammate. I mean, you see him playing with effort when he doesn't have the ball in his hand and he's been able to do some things in the run game and learns quickly to be able to move him around in different positions offensively.
Q: Mike, with Morgan Moses, didn't see him out there yesterday, kind of left practice earlier the day before, is that easing him back in still or is that something new he's dealing with?
MV: Probably a combination of both and just want to be smart and make sure that everybody's plan is the best one for them to be prepared for the season. So, Morgan will do a little bit today, won't do much, and then we'll see where he is at the next opportunity, which would be Friday.
Q: You mentioned the respect for DQ, he did it last year, first year with the team. What's the biggest challenge for a coach in his first season with a team?
MV: Just putting a lot of different people together, figuring out who the core players are, the ones that you want to bring in, the coaching staff, organizationally, the support staff to get it to where you want it and you feel comfortable about it and that's what he did an excellent job of. We're hoping to do the same thing.
Q: Some NFL coaches say that they get more out of joint practices than they do in the preseason games. What's your thought process on that?
MV: I think that they're important. I think that they may not be live, but I think that there's still great tempo, there's great speed, the competitiveness, but I mean, the games are important. The games that go out there and operate and see the penalties and the speed of it and the timing of it, the time with the two-minute and all those different things and tackling and being able to get guys to the ground, being able to break tackles, play and cut blocks and all those things that we don't see in practice.
Q: Obviously your defense gets to see Drake Maye on a daily basis in practice, but what kind of maybe different challenge does Jayden Daniels pose?
MV: Well, again, we'll have to see what they call and what Kliff [Kingsbury] calls and what they run, but he's talented, makes great decisions, but also very fast and while he scrambles and he can run with the football, rarely takes a big hit, which is very impressive for any player, especially a quarterback. And he's not the biggest guy, but you just don't see him taking too many hits when he runs.
Q: Mike, we've seen Marcus Bryant get increased reps with the starters the last couple of days. What have you seen from the seventh-round pick this offseason?
MV: Marcus has gotten better. He's trying to compete at left tackle and right tackle and when somebody goes down or they're not available, we just put the next guy in there and then we evaluate him and if he earns the opportunity to stay there, he stays there, and Marcus has done that. I think he's gotten better each and every day. Played the left, switched over and played on the right and did a nice job the other day at the end of practice.
Q: Coach, what went into the consideration of having just one joint practice instead of two?
MV: Because Washington only wanted to come up for one day.
Q: Mike, any words to the players about fights and stuff like that out here?
MV: We want to practice the same way we've practiced against our team and that's by playing physical and aggressive and not doing stuff that hurts the team and certainly don't expect any of that and if it does, we'll have to handle it accordingly. You have to be able to play competitively and physically without letting your emotions get the best of you.
Q: Any plans for live tackling today or anything like that?
MV: No.
Q: Mike, when it comes to, just to kind of follow up on the Jayden Daniels question, I've heard your defensive line guys talk about being aggressive and getting off the ball fast. Do you have to, against a more athletic quarterback, temper that for some guys?
MV: No, I meant, again, you just have to be coordinated, you have to be relentless and coordinated in your rush and based on some calls and you're not going to be — there's going to be some scrambles today that we need to coach off of and see. So, that'll be a good thing. We haven't talked too much about it. We're going to go and practice and then I think the best thing will be to be able to correct it and show it and figure out what we need to do if we were going into a game.
Q: Mike, what amount of preparation do you put in with the players to familiarize themselves with (inaudible)?
MV: Just a little bit. You know what I mean? Just a little bit. Just enough for maybe they're showing some things that we haven't done on either side of the football and making sure that they're prepared for some of that if they choose to run the quarterback in the red zone or whenever they want to do it, or some of their plays that we maybe haven't seen, and then defensively, some of the looks that we may or may not get that we haven't gotten from our defense. So, I want to try to give the players the best opportunity to come out here and be evaluated and so that they feel comfortable, and they feel like they've maybe seen something, and if they haven't then we have to adjust to it pretty quickly.
Q: You were a teammate of Kliff Kingsbury for a relatively short period of time. What if anything do you remember about him as a player?
MV: He wasn't better than Tom Brady. Kliff's a good friend. I mean there's a handful of coaches over there that I've played with in the league whether that's a year, or in Larry [Izzo]'s case, eight years. So, they've got a good staff, they've got a good mix of guys that played in this league and other guys that didn't, but that's a good coaching staff that they have. Kliff's really done a nice job everywhere he's been offensively.
Q: When you and Dan [Quinn] got together talking about this practice, are there situations where he'll say to you, Mike, at this point we want to see something that you'll set something up that he wants to see his team against and vice versa?
MV: Yeah, we talk. I mean, the scheme is, we don't get into the scheme so much as more situationally what do we want to see as it relates to first, second, third, third and long. Maybe we're going to be in a no huddle period, or how do you want to operate, or we'll be on the ball. Let's get some red zone in, let's get some red zone seven-on-seven. The quarterback can look to his first read, got to get the ball out or probably extend the play which is realistic in pro football in the red zone.
Q: Mike, the guys that their ticket to make the roster would be on special teams, you just mentioned Larry Izzo. Are there Larry Izzo qualities that you look for when you're looking at special teams guys?
MV: Well, a passion for playing football, competitive spirit, production I think would be the biggest thing. Understanding speed and space and blocking angles. It's a skill and it's an art and certainly Larry did it as well as anybody. So, I would say that the competitive spirit would probably be at the top of the list if you're looking for adjectives to describe Larry. Thank you.
