Head Coach Mike Vrabel 10/5: "I'm proud of the way they all played; I'm proud of the effort"

SPEAKER_1 (0:00)

It's okay.

Mike Vrabel (0:02)

What do you got? Ice coffee, regular coffee. Good.

SPEAKER_3 (0:08)

Perfect.

Mike Vrabel (0:11)

Slim Pickens today. How are you?

SPEAKER_4 (0:14)

Well, how about you?

Mike Vrabel (0:15)

Good, thank you.

SPEAKER_5 (0:17)

Given Afton's exploits in the game, might that earn him some more game reps?

Mike Vrabel (0:25)

Sure, of course. You know what I mean? That's what happens. I mean, guys continue to take advantage of their opportunities. They get more opportunities. I mean, we've been, you know, finding ways to work Ches in there previously. You know, again, and it's a balance, but, you know, certainly did a lot of things well. And I know that he'll continue to do things well for us and continue to know a bunch of different spots.

SPEAKER_1 (0:49)

Mike, you have one of the better records in the league as a head coach right now when Vegas has you guys as underdogs going into a game. Is there anything about that underdog label that you relish in when you're going into a game?

Mike Vrabel (1:06)

I mean, again, I just try to get the team prepared each and every week the best that I can.

Get them to understand what it is that they need to do to win the game and what we all need to do and the role that we all play in the game. So, that's all we try to do each and every week.

SPEAKER_4 (1:25)

Mike, with Drake, obviously, he got one of the game balls after the win.

What was in your message in the locker room was kind of like never lost faith. Just what was it like to see him kind of go out in that game and-

Mike Vrabel (1:36)

Yeah, I think the thing to me is, you know, we fumbled the snap.

It's a mistake. We picked the ball up and we stay alive and we hit an X play. So I think that really has to exemplify what we want to be and who we want to be as a team and who we want to be as an organization. There's going to be things that happen, things that we don't plan for, but certainly the play isn't over, the game isn't over, and I think that really sums up everything that we want to do. So I think that was a huge moment for us. I just said, hey, pick the ball up and go try to find a way to make a play, a positive play, but also, you know, figure out why the quarterback center exchange is, you know, we had the ball on the ground twice.

SPEAKER_6 (2:19)

Did you come up to a conclusion on the two center exchanges on the ground?

Mike Vrabel (2:24)

Well, I mean, we have to practice it and continue to practice it. And, you know, whether the center is moving, you know, laterally, he has a block that he has a guy off his body and he's moving one way. So quarterback excited on the goal line to try to get off the goal line. I mean, I think you see those plays down there. And I know what he's thinking is that he has to get off the line. And you saw what happened with with Jaden Daniels and those things when the defensive lineman has taken all the ball on the goal line and they're attacking. And, you know, sometimes things happen. So I know he's trying to get off the line of scrimmage in our haste to get off the line of scrimmage. You know, we have to stay in there and secure the snap. So, you know, we will we'll continue to focus on those things. We have to be good in critical situations.

Short yardage, you know, low red zone things when it gets when it gets tough. We have to be really good.

SPEAKER_6 (3:16)

Mike, we saw Eric Hunter at Gunner this week. How did that come to be and how did you feel like you performed in that role?

Mike Vrabel (3:22)

I thought I did fantastic. I thought Eric's really progressed every day since he's been here. I think Jeremy and Tom have done a fantastic job of of working with him and in our special teams and he's trying to work with our defensive coaches and just continue to a lot of new things for Eric. And, you know, he's willing, he's got a really good length and he can run and, you know, we just figured, you know, as we get guys that are down or we need bodies or DBs have to play or go down that, you know, why don't we give Eric a try? And he didn't disappoint.