Mike Vrabel New England Patriots
Mike Vrabel New England Patriots
By the end of the day on Sunday, the Jacksonville Jaguars had blown out the New England Patriots. However, at one point late in the first half, the Patriots had a chance to make it a one-score game and grab momentum going into the half. That ended with another Drake Maye interception.
Maye, obviously, garnered plenty of criticism for throwing a bad interception. However, there was blame to go around. That included to the Patriots coaching staff, for seemingly spending more effort on not giving the ball back to the Jaguars with time or timeouts than trying to score. That meant bland playcalling from offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, which put too much emphasis on third down.
Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel would be asked about that clock management strategy on Monday. He pushed back on that, though, emphasizing that they would have been happy to score right away.
“No. Again, we are just trying to have a good plan for plays inside the 5-yard line,” Mike Vrabel said. “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.”
New England Patriots HC Mike Vrabel on the Playcalling
There has been plenty of criticism for Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels this season. In particular, concerns that his playcalling is antiquated, passive, and putting the offense is a position where they have to force the ball on third down.
That, seemingly, was the case before the end of the first half against Jacksonville. Runs were stuffed before Drake Maye forced the interception, and Mike Vrabel admitted he wasn’t happy with the playcalling.
“No,” Vrabel said. “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.”
Following the Steelers game, Vrabel had taken the time to defend the playcalling this season. That’s because execution still matters, and it’s often hindsight that can set that narrative.
“There’s plays where they’re dog [expletive] calls and the players make a play. There’s good calls, and the guys don’t make a play,” Vrabel said last week. “You have to watch every play. Like there will be a X play run—I’ll watch every 20-yard gain—and it’s either a guy making a play or there’s a holding call that they miss. And that’s what it is. I think the easy thing is to say, ‘Well, that’s a terrible play call or the guy should’ve done better.’ Fellas, we have to be able to get into a rhythm.”
Regardless, the Patriots clearly have issues on offense this season. The run game has struggled and Maye has been reckless with the ball, trying to force plays that aren’t there. Until that turns around, poorly designed plays and failures in playcalling will continue to be an issue.
Mike Vrabel on Drake Maye’s Decision Making
Had Drake Maye not thrown an interception at the end of the first half, much of that criticism of the coaching staff would likely have been avoided. That’s, frankly, true of most of the mistakes the Patriots have made. If Maye plays better, the coaches wouldn’t be criticized as much.
Decision making and trying to force plays that aren’t there have been the main issues. That’s something Mike Vrabel recently tried to explain.
“I think quarterbacks want to make plays. I think they want to throw touchdowns. I think sometimes when Greg and I go golfing, we really want to make a good score, right? Sometimes we’re so focused on it, we try to choke the life out of the golf club, and we’re squeezing it so damn tight that the ball has no choice but to go sideways,” Vrabel said on Monday.
“We need to stop trying to choke the life out of every single play. We need to relax. We need to settle in and go play football and not try to force things that aren’t there.
Things don’t get easier from here for the Patriots. Next week, they have a major divisional test against the Buffalo Bills.