PATRIOTS HEAD COACH MIKE VRABEL
PRESS CONFERENCE
September 22, 2025
Q: After a night to ruminate on things and also watch film, do you have a better idea of how you might handle Rhamondre Stevenson and the fumbling issue?
MV: Well, we've got to continue to practice the crap out of it. We also have to do a better job of protecting said person with the ball, whether that's the quarterback, whether that's the running back or the receiver. We're all responsible for the security of the football. It starts with the person who has it, and then it falls upon the people that are blocking. Again, we'll continue to rep it. If we have to put two hands on the football, when we're going through there, that's what we'll have to do. The only thing I know how to do is to continue to practice it and work it. But then also, maybe it's not so much the person that you see, it's the one you don't see. There were a few opportunities that we can show them here in a little bit of that. Yes, the person is responsible for taking care of the football, but again, the other people also have a critical job in ball security.
Q: Mike, understanding that production can be a result of what the defense gives you, how can your receiver group be more productive going forward?
MV: I just think keep doing what they've been doing. There's opportunities, and we just have to be able to find them when things are there. Again, make the plays that you're supposed to make. You can see that there's opportunities, whether that's an in-cut by Kayshon [Boutte] on the third-and-long, or inward-breaking routes by [Stefon] Diggs, those are all positive things. Again, you can track stats, we can track wins or separation, man coverage and match. Again, there's one football. When the opportunities are there, just continue to make them. Then, how well they play with the football or without the football. I think I saw a good example of Digg-Z [Stefon Diggs] there, helping Rhamondre, spring him for a big play. Something that didn't happen in Miami, and was able to come back, adjust, take the coaching points and get the look exactly how he needed it. Helped him spring for an explosive gain. Those are all positive things, and I know as receivers, they want to catch touchdowns, they want to catch the ball, but we've just got to continue to spread the ball around and take the football where it's supposed to go when it's supposed to go there, in timing, rhythm and ball placement.
Q: Mike, you mentioned last night how you guys are going to need Rhamondre this season. How do you balance holding someone accountable and valuing the message that that might send to your team versus making sure you still have a guy on board, in rhythm, etc. when you do feel like you need him down the line?
MV: Yeah, we're going to need him. We're going to need everybody. He's got talent, skillset. He's a good protector, we trust him in protection. We'll get through this. I think a lot of it is just the consistency and continuing to build confidence. But you have to go out there and do it. How I manage that from an accountability standpoint, I would say as of now, I don't know what that will look like later on in the week as far as how we distribute the reps.
Q: Just to follow up quickly, I remember it was your introductory press conference, you talked about accountability and how you kind of need to know guys before you can hold them accountable because you don't want there to be pushback. Do you feel like you know guys well enough now to hold them accountable, right now?
MV: Yeah, I do. But I've also got to try to balance winning football games, gaining yards, scoring points and all those things. We've just got to get it fixed. I know there's no easy fix. The only thing I know how to do is work and we'll work at it. if I feel like or we feel like that it's in the best interest to limit those opportunities, then we'll have to do that.
Q: How do you handle the mental part of that? If you listen to the Hall of Fame speeches, you hear Julian [Edelman] say, "This guy believed in me when I was down," and things like that. How important is that?
MV: Well, I mean, we believe in them or they wouldn't be here. We believe in them, each and every one of them. Again, just putting them into positions that they feel comfortable, that there's trust and they have confidence to do their job. And then, as a professional athlete, you have to be willing to risk something to get something out of it. I think that it's easy to sometimes second guess yourself. So, Rhamondre's, I'm sure, very aware of fumbling, Antonio [Gibson] and Drake [Maye], everybody that fumbled. And so, we'll have to come back with a resolve to go. And what happens on one week doesn't necessarily guarantee it's going to happen the next week, and it can't. And I'm positive that it won't.
Q: I know it's relatively early in the week, but do you anticipate having Terrell [Williams] back with you guys at the end of this weekend?
MV: We'll kind of see where things are here going forward in the next couple of days. Terrell's around, we've just got to make sure that we're trying to build some consistency with how we do things.
Q: Drake mentioned on his fumble that he was trying to make a play to TreVeyon Henderson. I believe against the Raiders he made a similar play where he's getting taken down and flipped out. How do you walk that line? And where is the line?
MV: Well, I think we've heard it here before, but everybody's trying to make a play, we just need to make good plays. Not putting the ball at risk, understanding that there's a timing element to protection and that we certainly don't have all day based on the amount of people that we keep in in protection. So, I think that that's critical that once it gets past the first or second read, that we're going to have to be ready to get rid of the football or make sure that we're securing it at the end of the play.
Q: Mike, we saw a lot more of Jack Gibbens and Charles Woods in this game. How do you think they held up with the increased opportunities?
MV: Well, we played good defense and got stops when they were in there. I think they were OK. We were going to rotate, and when we rotated, we started – I don't think it was just those two players, solely, but we started playing good defense and settling down. So, I think we just stuck with it.
Q: Mike, when you were there on Saturday at the Hall of Fame, two obviously central parts of, key parts of this organization, what did you get from what both of them represented and what they said?
MV: Well, I think with Coach [Bill] Parcells, his way of making connections with players and building a program is something that I've always tried to take from that. And again, I know that practices were different, and as the years go on, they were harder, there were three-a-days back then and they practiced for three hours at a time. I've told those stories before, but I think just the foundation. When I got here, a lot of those players had been here under Coach Parcells. And so they helped me come from one organization to another, understand what the expectations were, how they were up in his system and things that he felt like were important. And for Jules [Julian Edelman], I just think that everybody – the journey to the NFL and his success was about work, perseverance, having a belief, just continuing to work and taking advantage of every opportunity, building confidence on special teams, building and being versatile. And obviously the connection that he made with his teammates was something that I took from his time up there.
Q: Mike, you won the toss and took the ball. What made that the right decision?
MV: Well, I don't know if it was the right one or not. We didn't get a great kickoff return and we fumbled. But the idea was that maybe we could get a good return and that we could get off to a fast start. It worked in Miami, didn't work so good yesterday. So, just try to keep figuring out ways to help us there early in the game to get off to a good start.
Q: Mike, on Pop [DeMario] Douglas' play, was that route run to the proper depth?
MV: Well, we need to probably get one revolution further, but even if we don't, we just have to knife when we get between two defenders. We had great examples in Miami where we split those guys and that's a decision that's for the team. We can't circle them up. Mack [Hollins] had one earlier where he tried to do the same thing. We need to knife between two defenders. It's a little different if you're in man coverage and it's one guy, but when there's two guys, we have to take the yardage that's there, be able to knife and extend drives.
Q: Mike, on the Terrell situation without getting into the personal stuff, A, is he feeling better? And you've, in the last two weeks, mentioned you want more consistency with that operation. Does that mean that maybe you're toying with the idea of Terrell in an advisory role more than a play-calling role?
MV: Well, I don't know if I'm ready to say that yet. I'm just making sure that, one, his health is first and foremost. That's critically important. Again, just making sure that the consistency is there so that we know what to account for and plan for. I don't want to say that it's fluid, but we'll see where things are, and if he's going to continue to help us. I just don't know, based on the availability, what that's going to look like. So, the communication and everything that we've been doing over there has been good. His ability to help us has been really good. But I also don't want to go back and forth. I don't think that that's good for anybody either. So, appreciate you asking about Terrell, but right now we'll just kind of, I would say moving forward, kind of be where we were last week. That's where I would anticipate it being this week.
