Mike Vrabel
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Patriots coach Mike Vrabel finally spoke out on two major trade targets.
The New England Patriots welcomed an NFC foe to Foxboro a few days early. As the team prepares to take on the Washington Commanders on Friday night for the first game of the preseason, the first session of joint practices started with a bang Wednesday afternoon.
While fights are nothing new as far as joint practice are concerned, you rarely see a coach emerge bloody. But then again, there’s no one quite like Mike Vrabel.
“TreVeyon Henderson picked up a blitzer and took him to the ground violently. They started rolling/scrapping. Mike Vrabel physically jumped in to try to break it up. Will Campbell saw what was happening and dove on a defender. Scrum broke out. Vrabel bled,” reporter Chris Mason recounts.
Videography is not allowed at Patriots training camp, however pictures like this one are circulating on X. They show the head coach holding a towel to his right cheek.
“Mike Vrabel pulled out from the bottom of a huge pile of players, and he’s now bleeding from his right cheek,” a different reporter wrote.
Drake Maye’s Reaction To Mike Vrabel’s Energy
The Patriots were in desperate need of a face lift. It appears hiring Vrabel might have been just that. A team that at times looked like it couldn’t care less about the task at hand is now the talk of New England.
The vibe around the team is unrecognizable, and the face of the franchise, Drake Maye, says the players can feel it too.
“That’s what we’re trying to build and it starts with the head coach — intensity, bringing it every day, taking no crap when we’re out there on the field,” Maye said to a gaggle of reporters. “The mentality, I like it. That’s what you want.”
As mentioned above, the ‘injury’ occurred during a pass protection period. Rookie TreVeyon Henderson finished his block, and fellow rookie Will Campbell allegedly added insult to injury by jumping on the scrum.
Quarterback Drake Maye provided the reporters with a bit of a news flash: football is violent.
“Pass pro is physical. It’s a physical game. Things happen out there,” Maye said. “There’s a time where obviously you don’t want to come out here and fight and get into trouble. At the same time, you don’t want to back down from nobody. So I’m sure Coach will preach that we can’t have that, but at the same time, kind of in the back of our minds, that’s kind of how we want to play…”
Vrabel Getting His Hands Dirty At Practice
Coach Vrabel has taken a very hands on approach during training camp. Several videos have emerged of the soon to be 50-year-old coach strapping a handheld pad to his chest and going to-to-toe with the 300 pound behemoths on the roster.
While it is unconventional, the media in Boston has loved it. Veteran newcomer, offensive tackle Morgan Moses, confirmed what we already knew, the players love it too.
“He loves what he does. Any time you got a coach you see out there wearing pads and getting punched by guys and doing drills it makes you want to go harder,” he said. “He understands the process as a player and a coach.”