FOXBOROUGH – Whether it was the throng of extra media members packed into the media workroom at Gillette Stadium on Wednesday or the AFC Championship backdrop at the podium, it was hard to avoid things being much different this week.
The Patriots welcomed dozens of outlets to Gillette to kick off the week and despite the frenzied feel, the team is trying to keep things as normal as possible.
“I mean, I think it’s similar to what we’ve done. It’s focus on what we want the team to try to do, and then offensively, defensively and special teams, things that we think are important, go about practicing them and making sure that everybody’s ready,” Vrabel said. “First and second down today, we’ll get third down tomorrow, on and on and on into the red zone.
“So, I mean, we just have to – again, I’m focused on embracing the preparation and enjoying this entire experience.”
Stefon Diggs has never gotten to a Super Bowl – like the majority of this team – but he’s preaching the same thing as his head coach to all of his teammates, particularly the young guys when it comes to heading out on the road again.
“You’ve got to trust whoever you’ve been, you’re going to be that continuing,” said Diggs. “You’ve got to stay fast. You’ve got to grind just like you usually would. Our coach preaches identity. You pack the identity. You pack what you’ve been doing. We’ve been on the road throughout this year and we had some pretty good – I think – some pretty good opponents. on the road.
“Going into a game like this, don’t do nothing that you haven’t been doing. You try to make it more than what it is or less than what it is, that’s when things happen. Just take things for what they are. One day at a time. It’s just Wednesday right now, so got to approach the Wednesday the right way.”
While this certainly isn’t a normal week – evident if you just took a peek at the parking lots at Gillette on Wednesday – the Patriots will do their best to maintain the same level of confidence and consistency that’s gotten them to this point so far.