Head Coach Mike Vrabel 11/13: "It's tough to play defense in this league without creating some turnovers"

Mike Vrabel (0:01)

Guys, Nicole, Karen, make it over. What do you got, Nicole?

Well, I think obviously we had a couple of guys that didn't travel. So talking about game status would just be the guys that didn't travel. Carlton Davis didn't travel, Trey Vian didn't travel, and Ben Brown did not travel. So other than that, we'll have to go through practice and kind of see where guys are this afternoon. So this is a little unique talk to you guys before we have our Friday practice.

SPEAKER_2 (0:31)

How did you get to where AJ is in London?

Mike Vrabel (0:35)

Based on yesterday, I think pretty good. And again, still have to go through today and see where that goes and then meet with Jim and meet with the players.

SPEAKER_2 (0:49)

What's AJ's response in terms of energy?

Mike Vrabel (0:56)

I think the more that we can get everybody back, I think the more that it contributes to what we feel like we want to be as a team. And one guy certainly doesn't make the difference, but it's certainly the more that we can get guys back. It's exciting that the pieces can start to build and come together.

So, we'll see where things go today, and hopefully those guys that haven't been with us or maybe got hurt last week could be available.

SPEAKER_2 (1:30)

What are some of the challenges? Obviously, with the understanding that different teams meet to meet kind of a thing.

Mike Vrabel (1:42)

I mean, I think everybody's job is to understand what the call is and understand the details of the play, the concept of the play, understand that, whether that's a, you know, it's like asking a guy to go from a five technique to a three technique, or you're containing or running a game, like there's always things that you have to do with your job. And when you talk about coverage, nobody or, you know, especially us, we're just going to be able to play one coverage, you know, that's not possible. So you have to understand what the, the intent of the play is, and what you need to do in each coverage. There's things change, there's responsibilities change. And then understand what those are.

SPEAKER_2 (2:21)

Do you have any decision about his decision to start a club card?

Mike Vrabel (2:25)

Uh, no, I mean, I think we'll see how Greg comes out of practice today. I know he's been returned to play.

Um, you know, see where Walter is in the protocol and then go from there.

Andrew (2:37)

Coach, beyond talent and performance, what's the one quality that makes someone a true New England Patriots in your eyes?

Mike Vrabel (2:45)

Well, we talk about a lot of things that require no talent or skill. We talk about competitive spirit. We talk about, um, communication. We talk about toughness. We talk about our attitude. You know, those are a lot of things that you can do that require no skill that hopefully can help us win. But, you know, I thought, I think that those are some qualities that we're trying to build.

SPEAKER_4 (3:09)

Mike, just following on for the question here about the defense. I know it's a week to week, two games a season, but you're not the most hard to affairs in practice. Are there any common themes that have made you want to prepare for the Sunday's game?

Mike Vrabel (3:24)

No, I mean, I think just, you know, being able to get off the field on third down, limit X plays and be able to try to create some turnovers. It's tough to play defense in this league without creating some turnover. So I have to find some guys that can go take the ball away from the other team, tip a pass, hit a guy hard enough to knock the ball loose. You know, be able to read the quarterback in zone coverage and not really let the guy catch the ball in man coverage and, you know, hope that there's some disruption there that then gets picked off by somebody else. So it's a lot of ways to do it and it starts by hopefully affecting the quarterback.

I mean, I would say that just our staff overall, the operation staff, everybody was phenomenal from this time that we started here. Video, equipment, training room, nutrition, our security, everybody has just been, it's made this trip seamless and we feel great where we are right now, being able to get ready to practice and that's all been because of the staff that was able to do that. Now, you know, the time that the players spend, that's, you know, their time. Again, I'm not going to sit there and babysit them and make them sit in a circle and hold hands and I mean, they're grown men. If they want to talk to somebody, they'll talk to them. Our jobs are to go out there and play good football.