PATRIOTS HEAD COACH MIKE VRABEL

PRESS CONFERENCE
September 28, 2026

Q: I am wondering, are you aware of any lingering shoulder problem with Drake Maye dating back to the Denver game?

MV: No, I'm not. I think when you go through an NFL game like that, especially as a quarterback, and you get hit, and again, there was not, to my knowledge, anything that would have put him on the injury report or any sort of treatment. I think every player has normal maintenance and prehab that they go through as a warm-up routine. That's not anything that I would even consider. But I know as you go through a game, I'm sure you get hit. I'm sure things will happen. But I don't anticipate that being any issue going forward.

Q: These next few days with Drake Maye before Wednesday's practice, do you want to see him grind away? Do you want to see him clear his head? How would you want to see him do that?

MV: I think that's for everybody, and not just Drake Maye. I think that starts with me. I think you have to be able to say, "Where did things go wrong?" Look at what we did ultimately, our performance, what we did out there on Sunday, correct it, and look at the positives. There are always going to be positives, even in that game. But I think at some point in time we're going to have to move on, and we're going to have to be able to recognize what is in front of us, the challenge that is ahead, but not dismiss any of the actions that happened yesterday.

Q: What were some of the positives that you took away from yesterday?

MV: Again, we hit some plays. We took advantage of some things. Offensively, we hit an X play down there on the sidelines to Pop [DeMario Douglas]. I thought that the protection continued to improve. It wasn't perfect, but I think we made some good efforts. I saw some guys cleaning the pocket out. Defensively, we tried to affect the quarterback. We just dropped them. Those MOBPs are close. We got an interception on a pressure. We tipped a pass; we always talk about tipping passes. Special teams, we created a penalty. We had a return out to the 40. But then again, there are the same things that we took advantage of. We blocked a guy in the back to start the drive, backed up. We don't use the rules to our advantage on the sideline with the kick. We turn the ball over, and then we don't take the chances on defense when we have chances to turn the ball over, turn it over. They executed in the red zone; we clearly didn't. We missed a field goal. The game got away from us after that. But it could have been a lot of 'what ifs.' It could have been 14-9 easily, to where you are in a competitive football game, you can get a turnover, but instead of that, it's 21-3.

Q: Mike, I am curious. On the radio this morning, you made a comment about not trying to choke the life out of every play. With Drake Maye, how do you go about addressing that and fixing that while also ensuring that he feels the confidence to make those?

MV: Confidence comes from your preparation, and it comes from going out there. I can't manufacture confidence. I can't just say, "Hey, be confident." You have to practice. You have to hit those plays in practice, and you have to feel good about it. Taking the meeting to practice and being able to hit those things, or a pass rush move, or a game, or route, or any protection –anything that you would need in the football game. Sometimes you want to do something so badly. It's like the tighter you hold the golf club, the more crooked it goes when you hit it. We just have to be able to make sure that we're on the same page, that everybody knows what is expected of them, have a few details and then go play football.

Q: Mike, at the end of the first half you guys had first and goal at the 5. Jacksonville had two timeouts left. What is the conversation like between you, Josh [McDaniels and Stretch [John Streicher]? Was there an edict to run on the first two downs and get them to use their timeouts?

MV: No. Again, we are just trying to have a good plan for plays inside the 5-yard line. We weren't trying to get cute. We would've been happy if we scored a touchdown on the first play. We would've been happy if we scored on the second play. We weren't trying to get cute and eat up time. Those were plays that we thought we liked there down in the red zone.

Q: Were you satisfied with those plays?

MV: No. But again, we have always been through this. There's no perfect call. The best ones are the ones that players have confidence in and they're decisive. And then we have to be able to block them and make a good read. Then, if they play the last play and they pass it off and it's not there, then we have to throw it away.

Q: We saw a few occasions where you were talking to Drake Maye on the sideline one-on-one. Why was it important for you to have those conversations with him one-on-one in-game on the sideline, and how much of that was about trying to settle him and ground him in the moment?

MV: My conversations with each person on that sideline, I have to try to do my best each and every play, whoever I'm communicating with, to try to get the best out of them. I'll have conversations with a lot of people, and again, I have a lot of faith and confidence in everybody that is here. That is why they're here. We have to continue to prepare and work with one another. The answers are here; the answers are in this building. We just have to do it much more consistently and continue to find ways to do it together.

Q: Mike, do you feel like you have to simplify things at all just to help Drake Maye get settled?

MV: When you have games like that throughout the entire team – how do you fix some things? You get back to the basics. Again, we want to continue to impress upon the importance of what our identity is. We still have to build it. You have to put it out there. Before you can protect something, you have to build it. And we have to get back to the basics. So, some of that is, do you do less and try to do it better? Or do you go and you try to scheme up a bunch of stuff and hope you hit it? I think at the end of the day, there's a great balance. I thought we had a couple of good scheme plays and we didn't hit them. They made it and we didn't. Same thing defensively – it's how much you do. Special teams, making sure that every guy knows what their job is on kickoff return or whatever it is. So, I think to your question, you never want to go into a game when a guy is unsure, right? But how much we do, we'll look at that, and we'll look at everything that we can do to help us win here on the road.

Q: The Jaguars offense went 5/5 in the red zone. When it comes to the passing touchdowns, how much of that was just great execution from Trevor Lawrence?

MV: I think it's both. We didn't play very good red zone defense. We got them in some longer yardage situations, and they made a play a couple times, and we didn't. But also, I think we have to be much better down there. That's what cost us last year, and I think you saw that repeatedly last year when we played good defense and then didn't play very well in the red zone. So again, we will have to make sure that we're emphasizing that and forcing them to kick field goals.

Q: Last year, Stefon Diggs seemed to really emerge as a leader, especially on the offensive side of the ball. The guys seemed to really take to him. Do you think you have that kind of leadership on that side of the ball this year?

MV: I think the better that we play, the easier it is to lead. So, we have to find players that are willing to emerge when things are not great. We don't want front runners. We want guys that are prepared to come to work with a great attitude, that do not rely on somebody else's positivity or me trying to get guys going. Everyone is responsible for their own attitude, and I think that is really critical when you come to work, that we come with a purpose, that we are intentional, that we are here to work, but also continue to make connections. Twenty-four of the 54 guys on the game day roster are first-year players to our team, so I have to remind myself that I have to continue to coach that and explain to them the identity that we want to build and that we have to see that out there on the games. That's the most important thing.

Q: With Ben Brown, I'm curious if you have an update regarding his injury, and also just what went into this decision to put Walter Rouse in over maybe Ben Brown.

MV: Sure. Walt has been working there. We felt confident that was the plan going in, that Ben Brown would be the center and then the first left guard in. That's where he had been working, and it's good to have Ben back healthy. I'm sure he will help us; he'll probably have to help us this week. I thought Walter had a few mistakes, but he competed and will have to improve. I'm sure Ben will be a part of that process going forward, and we will see where Greg Van Roten is here after a few more tests.

Q: Mike, from your experience with players, is it tougher to fix either confidence or mental issues as opposed to a mechanical problem?

MV: The technique and fundamentals to each position is critical, and those are things that when you are in the heat of the moment, in the battle, and when you are tired, that's what you're going to get, those technique and fundamentals. But I think the psyche in sports is unique. Everyone has their own sweet spot that they have to operate in as far as how they feel and how they regulate their own emotions. So again, that is what makes everybody unique, and we'll have to continue to try to get everybody to their sweet spot and get them to understand that one play, or in this case hopefully one game, does not define a season. And there is certainly nothing we can do about it. We can't go back and fix it; we cannot change it. But we can focus on what we are going to do moving forward, and that starts with a game. If there is a mistake in a game, it's okay. How do we overcome first-and-15? We hit a play, and we did. How do we overcome a third down conversion or sudden change defensively? You go out there and make a play. And then when they score, how do we answer? We get a kickoff return or try to create some momentum that way.

Q: Trying to find a balance this week, do you have to change how you guys practice, or do you double down this week and do what you have been doing?

MV: Yeah, I think that is a great question. I really do. And you do a lot of thinking – what's best? I think that we believe in the way that we prepare. We believe in the schedule, and we would not be doing it if we didn't believe in it. And at some point in time, you may have to alter things just to change it up. Paint the walls – I don't know. See if production goes up. But I don't know if there will be a ton of things that change. We'll still have to make sure that we are ready and we're good on first and second down, that we find ways to convert on third. And then defensively, we'll hit red zone on Friday. But a lot of it is depending on the health of the football team, what guys are able to do and the pace in which you have to practice. Again, we have always said this, you have to be a team that can practice at different speeds and tempos throughout the year to be able to be ready for Sunday. Every day isn't going to be 30 full speed reps, and that's just not possible. So again, we've said that, and I think we have to continue to find ways to be prepared and ready to go, while going at less than 100% every single rep throughout the week.

Q: Why did you guys have to take a timeout after your second offensive play?

MV: Sometimes, when you have alerts and disguises and getting us into the right play, and I have to make a decision with the quarterback and if we are going to snap it before we get to zero. But I think that there are times where we need to be able to get up and be much more decisive and urgent. And again, we want to be precise. We can't focus on being perfect, and if they are rotating late and we've already got into it, we can't change it and try to fix it with less than five seconds on the play clock. So, I thought for the most part, we've done okay. But we also cannot get it down into the play clock where we are forcing ourselves to do something that we cannot realistically do, is change the play that late.