The construction crew working around Gillette Stadium has New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel inspired.
Workers have been constructing a new training facility for the Patriots, and the franchise had a “topping off” ceremony last week to celebrate it. Vrabel, owner Robert Kraft, quarterback Drake Maye, and defensive back Christian Gonzalez all signed the final beam to go up according to MassLive’s Nick O’Malley.
“Thank you to the men and women at Suffolk and the construction hats, I see you walking to work every morning at 4:45 and you got lunch pails and I can appreciate it,’” Vrabel said via Mass Live. ”It does somewhat inspire me to think, ‘Man, they’re going to work. It’s time for us to go to work inside the building.’”
New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel, left, talks with Patriots owner Robert Kraft court-side during the second half of game two of the first round of the 2024 NBA Playoffs between the Boston Celtics and the Orlando Magic at TD Garden.
New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel, left, talks with Patriots owner Robert Kraft court-side during the second half of game two of the first round of the 2024 NBA Playoffs between the Boston Celtics and the Orlando Magic at TD Garden.
Winslow Townson-Imagn Images
The new facility will open in 2026, but the Patriots look to build toward a brighter future in 2025 for now. New England has gone 4-13 the past two seasons after a dominant run from 2001 to 2019, and Vrabel wants to change that.
"I'm worried about what's going to go right today and tomorrow and the next day. We're not worried about what went wrong. We're focused on what's going to go right,” Vrabel said during the Forged in Foxborough video on May 16.
"We're building our own identity, OK?" Vrabel later added. "The overriding goal for the program that we're going to build is going to be to win the division."
New England has made key additions around Maye through free agency and the draft in hopes of getting back to winning ways. Winning the AFC East, however, will pose a big challenge with the Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins, and New York Jets all reloading this offseason.