FOXBOROUGH – Upbeat, energetic, clearly eager to continue coaching the New England Patriots.
That’s the easiest, simplest way to explain what Mike Vrabel was like on Wednesday before and during the team’s second OTA practice, but the first open to the media.
Vrabel certainly had his fair share of longer answers in his first press conference since the draft. That was a bit noteworthy, but his passion and eagerness to get out on the field was evident.
“Again, we all have to deal with things outside of here. My focus, and obviously the excitement that I have for coaching, is what is most important right now,” Vrabel said when asked specifically about trying to eliminate the distraction he ultimately caused. “This is a great opportunity. The spring, we don’t have to worry about opponents. Our schedule is pretty much the same. The players just have a routine, and each and every day in the spring is similar. But it’s just about teaching. It’s about teaching these guys the scheme. We talked about having some enhancements offensively, defensively and special teams, stuff that we did well, but that we’ll have to either dress up or modify slightly.
“That’s what the spring time is about. That’s really all we know, is being able to coach these guys and to teach them, help them do their job. This is the time in the spring where they can focus on not only conditioning, but all the details that are going to help them. That’s really all I know and that’s really all I want to be able to do.”
Once on the field, it was the same Vrabel we saw from this point onward last season. Bouncing around, coaching various position guys up, sometimes getting his hands on someone off to the side (saw him with Christian Barmore at one point briefly). At one point he wore a No. 14 pinnie for a little while in a couple of drills. You could hear him often too, whether it was yelling out instructions for the next period or telling guys not to ‘pitter patter’ through an early indy drill, it was the same old Vrabel.
Vrabel was asked about his comments prior to the draft about striking more of a work-life balance and appears to be in a good place.
“Really good. I appreciate that my family is great. I love Jen [Vrabel], I love the boys, I love my personal friends,” he said. “This spring is focused on the coaching staff, the players more importantly than the coaching staff.”
After practice, Milton Williams spoke and noted that the team “wasn’t playing around” out there, adding they were “getting some real work in.”
For those hoping for a quick Patriots demise after the surge back to the (near) top of the mountain in 2025, it’ll have to come during the season if it comes at all.
So far, guys are locked in with zero talk of ‘distractions.’ Turns out losing the Super Bowl can provide plenty of material to focus on the day-to-day process in May and June.