Patriots DC Terrell Williams
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Patriots DC Terrell Williams
Head coach Mike Vrabel provided a health update on the New England Patriots‘ defensive coordinator Terrell Williams. Williams was not with the team during the 33-27 Week 2 win over the Miami Dolphins on the road.
Williams is dealing with a completely undisclosed health issue. Vrabel, in typical head coach fashion, has not provided reporters with much of an explanation. However, Vrabel did confirm that Williams would return to the team, in a yet again undisclosed fashion.
“Terrell will be around,” Vrabel said. “I don’t quite fully know in what capacity, but he will be around and involved, and so we’ll continue to make sure there is a good plan for everything that happens just like we always have been.”
In a nice gesture, Vrabel thanked the media for the continuing concern for his longtime friend.
“I think Terrell’s in good spirits, I appreciate [the media] asking,” he said to start the press conference.
Vrabel Compliments Zak Kuhr In Play Calling Debut
Filling in for Williams on Sunday was another long time acquaintance of Vrabel, linebackers coach Zak Kuhr. Kuhr was calling plays for the first time in his professional career, escaping his debut with a hard earned win.
“We subbed and we got into our calls,” Vrabel said. “We talked about this before, the best call is a decisive one that the players know and believe in and that they have confidence that they can execute their job. When we needed to get the drive stopped, we got the drive stopped. We had a plan to play these guys and how we wanted to play them.”
Kuhr’s defense allowed just two touchdowns, with the third coming on a punt return. Additionally, the team allowed just 61 total rushing yards with 20+ of those coming from wide receiver Malik Washington.
If there was a downside it would be in allowing more than 300 passing yards from Tua Tagovailoa. However, the team made up for it with five more sacks and a clutch time interception.
Troubling Defensive Stat
While there was plenty to be proud of for the Patriots, namely the much needed pass rush, one concerning statistic has emerged.
Pats won yesterday despite missing 12 tackles. That's their highest miss-tackle rate since week 4 in 2021 (per @NextGenStats).
— Mike Giardi (@MikeGiardi) September 15, 2025
Vrabel was asked about the concerning tackling trend and had this to say.
“Well, I don’t think we tackled terribly in the first week,” Vrabel began. “Yesterday was a tough task, we missed far too many tackles, so debate whether we tackled well the first week or not. I mean, it’s always physical, I think mentally it puts you in the right position, puts you in the right frame of mind of what we’re asking out of each tackle.”
The excuses stopped there, however, as Vrabel then vowed his team would improve in that department.
“A lot of things that we want to avoid and make sure that we practice and continue to practice. I mean, we have, we’ll need to do more of it this week,” the head coach concluded. “They put you into a space game, a team like Miami puts you into a space game, and there’s no shortage of skilled players that are good with the ball in their hands, so we’ll have to be better, be able to use the right technique and the right mentality…”