Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel was back for his weekly WEEI interview with “The Greg Hill Show” on Monday morning following his team’s 30-24 loss in Chicago to the Bears on Thursday.
Asked to characterize his team’s performance in the defeat, Vrabel took issue with the execution, dismissing New England’s lengthy injury report as a possible excuse.
“I don’t think it has to be perfect, but it better be precise,” he said of the Patriots’ performance. “And whether you have people that are injured or not, I think you better be precise in this league.”
He touched on a few other topics, including A.J. Brown and his evolving dialogue with NFL officials.
An updated policy for speaking to referees
Asked about his reaction to a roughing the passer call against Gabe Jacas, the Patriots’ coach provided a more general response.
“I look miserable when we don’t play well,” Vrabel said.
“I wasn’t mad at the refs,” he added, hinting that his displeasure may have been more directed at Jacas’s rookie mistake. “That’s the latest roughing the passer penalty I’ve ever seen. It was like five steps.”
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On the topic of his recently reported $250,000 fine from the NFL for conduct toward officials — Vrabel is one of three coaches who were given the fine, per Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer — the second-year New England coach joked about the financial circumstances.
“Thank God this pays me nothing,” he said of his regular WEEI interviews. He continued humorously responding to questions about his relationship with officials, describing his updated approach.
“I just tell them everything’s a great call. I go, ‘Man, I thought you were going to miss that one, but you nailed it,’” Vrabel added. “Every time I go to cuss at them I’m like, ‘We’ve got Christmas, we’ve got holidays, we’ve got kids, we’ve got weddings coming up.’”
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Drake Maye’s decisions
The conversation around Patriots quarterback Drake Maye was not as prominent as it was earlier in the season when the 24-year-old was struggling, but Vrabel was queried about the advice he gives regarding when to slide after a scramble.
“I remind him a lot of different things. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t,” Vrabel said of Maye.
“Sometimes, I’m not going to say anything. Just tell him go play quarterback and make good decisions and lead our offense.”
A.J. Brown’s play
New England’s highest-profile wide receiver has yet to fully hit his stride after returning from a high ankle sprain he suffered in the Week 1 loss against the Seahawks.
Brown, 29, has totaled three receptions in each of his last two games across 16 total targets from Maye.
Is Vrabel worried about Brown being able to get back to 100 percent after the injury?
“No, I don’t have any concern,” he replied.
“I thought that he dropped a few passes, and then the other night there was a contested catch that I thought I’d seen him make those plays in the past,” Vrabel said when asked for his take on Brown’s return to the lineup. “I’ve seen those plays get called for [defensive pass interference] and I’ve seen those plays be good plays by the defense down the field.
“I don’t think anybody has to press here or anything else,” he noted. “I think we just have to get back into a rhythm offensively with the guys that we have. We have to continue to play better defensively, and then you know our special teams took a step back here after we had a really good performance.”
Vrabel concluded with a line that would’ve sounded perfectly at home in the time of his former coach, Bill Belichick.
“We weren’t good enough in all three phases.”