FOXBOROUGH – If you were listening to Mike Vrabel’s weekly interview with Scott Zolak during the 98.5 Sports Hub pregame show on Sunday about 20 minutes before kickoff, you would have heard some rather stunning news.

Vrabel told Zo that individual player introductions would make a return against the Browns.

The Patriots made history 23 years ago on that special February night in New Orleans when Pat Summerall told the world they were choosing to be introduced as a team.

It’s something the organization has done ever since…until Sunday.

Almost all of the Patriots players ran out through the giant logo and smoke like usual with ‘Crazy Train’ blaring, but 12 offensive players were then introduced.

Morgan Moses, Mike Onwenu, Garrett Bradbury, Jared Wilson, Will Campbell, Rhamondre Stevenson, Austin Hooper, Hunter Henry, Mack Hollins, Kayshon Boutte, Stefon Diggs and Drake Maye all had their names called, running through a tunnel of cheerleaders before another tunnel of teammates.

Prior to Sunday, the last time it happened would have been inside the old Foxborough Stadium.

Obviously, a lot of NFL teams still do this and the other major sports do too, but this is sort of a big deal around here.

First, no more ‘awww yeah’ in the locker room after a win and now this.

They’re minor tweaks, but make no mistake about it…this is a statement by Vrabel to the rest of the organization and the fan base.

It’s truly a new era of Patriots football.

“Just feel like these guys put a lot into it and would like to recognize him individually,” Vrabel said when asked about it postgame.

“Hopefully our fans can embrace that and get excited for them. It’s something that I felt like we wanted to do, create some energy early and get them to recognize the players’ efforts, and allow these fans to support us, which they did. It was getting loud on third down. We’ve got to continue to play hard for them so that they cheer for us.”

The timing was a bit off, but it still got the job done. When you don’t do something for two decades, you’re going to need to work out the kinks.

“Yeah, I was a little bit nervous for it. You always see other teams do it. I got literally no swag, so I just go out there and run,” Maye said with a laugh.

“I think the guys enjoyed it. I think it was cool kind of hanging back there in the back being the last one. I think the first like ten guys, they had the wrong name and ran out too fast. I think we’ll work on it. I think the fans, maybe it was new for them too, so they’ll have to adjust. Maybe next time they’ll be ready for it. I think it was loud. They’re loud every time we do the call outs. So that’s it.”

Pop Douglas adamantly agreed that the new-old tradition needs some work.

“That was tough, but we gotta do better though,” he said. “We gotta do better. It wasn’t…that’s maybe why we came out slow. When the person runs out, that’s when you’re supposed to (call the name)…we’ll get that worked out and we’ll be good.”

Asked if he’d want to do it again, Douglas reiterated that work needs to be done in true Patriots fashion.

“Yeah, but we gotta be better…call it out when the people come out.”

Mike Onwenu has been here for a while now too and was a fan of the change.

“It was a good idea. I thought it was pretty cool. That was my first time having something like that,” he said. “I think it’s pretty cool that we can do it on an individual basis. Obviously, people only see us with our helmets on, that’s how we et the individual (attention), so that’s cool. I think it was good camaraderie.

“I think it helps the fans to see us individually, not just what number we are, so I thought it was cool. I’m cool with it. I like it.”

As a rookie, Jared Wilson was just happy to have the experience for the first time as a pro.

“I thought it was cool,” he said.

If you’re a fan of this team or followed them since the 1990’s and into the 2000’s, memories of Bledsoe, Coates, Armstrong and Glenn running out probably came flooding back.

This might not be a big deal to some and for other fan bases around the country it certainly isn’t, but it was a pretty significant move on Sunday,  further indicating just how differently Vrabel wants everything to feel around Foxborough.

Hopefully, minutes before kickoff against Atlanta next week, the second run will go much smoother.