Head Coach Mike Vrabel 11/2: "I've got a lot of confidence in what Drake does"

Mike Vrabel (0:00)

Hi, guys, how are you doing? Frans Seneca.

SPEAKER_2 (0:03)

Yeah.

SPEAKER_3 (0:06)

Is there any chance AJ Brown will be practicing this week?

SPEAKER_4 (0:10)

Yeah, we'll see.

Mike Vrabel (0:11)

We'll see how he progresses here through the week. Getting treatment here, and we'll see when we get to Wednesday what those guys that were unavailable for the game, what they look like, and then also whatever came up here during the game.

SPEAKER_2 (0:30)

Are Collins and Mercedelli any chance those guys will come back this week?

SPEAKER_3 (0:33)

Potentially.

Mike Vrabel (0:34)

I mean, again, those guys are all working hard. We've got a long list of those guys, and I think Jim and his staff, and obviously Frank and his staff are trying to do a great job with the return to play. We'll just kind of see here where we come out from the game and where guys can help us, and the spots that you have to make to get those guys back. So there's a lot of moving parts, and we'll try to do, obviously, make sure that the player is ready to return to practice, and then also, if they were to be available for the game, then the corresponding moves that would have to occur.

SPEAKER_5 (1:14)

Michael, what is the decision to put Ben Brown in at halftime over Walter?

Mike Vrabel (1:19)

Well, Ben's worked really hard, I think, you know, he kind of had worked through the knee injury. You know, I guess would have been Jacksonville, I think, came back.

Had been working in practice, and we stuck with Walter, and then wanted to take a look at Ben. So, kind of see where that goes this week, and, you know, those guys will play extremely hard. It's never going to be perfect. You know, I thought they both did some things well. I thought they both would have some plays that they would like to improve on.

SPEAKER_6 (1:54)

Like the passing game in the second half, obviously very productive. In the first half, was there anything that was disrupting the timing of the passing game? It looked like there were just a few times, you know, Drake might hit his back foot and kind of be waiting for something to happen there. Did you see it?

Mike Vrabel (2:10)

I mean, maybe re-routes or, you know, the depth of some of the coverage players that, you know, again, got a lot of confidence in what Drake does and what he sees. And so, if he's not comfortable with something, you know, he's going to find an exit strategy, he's going to find a check down, he's going to find ways to extend and maybe buy some time. But, you know, I think just getting into a better flow, you know, maybe just not stolen out there and, you know, being able to, you know, I mean, again, taking check down sometimes isn't terrible. You know, we just got to be able to knife and get in between zone defenders and take care of the football. And, you know, so every play is not going to be a 25-yard ex-player or a 40-yard touchdown.

That's not how the passing game is going to work.

SPEAKER_4 (3:02)

Mike, we talked to you about losing his legs last week. You guys seem to do a very good job of keeping him corralled and in the pocket. What kind of goes into hemming him in like you did?

Mike Vrabel (3:13)

I think the players just have to have an understanding of, you know, we talk about relentless and coordinated rush. So I think that that they had a good understanding of what that was going to look like. You know, we think they had a quarterback draw designed at some point, and, you know, guys are getting off blocks, you know, beating guys. You know, I thought, for the most part, we were always kind of getting somebody looping into his face, you know, would have liked to try to, you know, tip a few more balls.

But, you know, I think the good plan and the good execution by the players to make sure there was one where, you know, he threw to Marcus, maybe went out to his left, and Marcus made a good play on the ball that, you know, he probably could have took off on that one. I didn't love the, you know, the rush lanes there. But, you know, obviously him coming into the game with as many yards as rushing that he had, I thought that was certainly something that helped us.

SPEAKER_5 (4:17)

It seems like Andy's missed some kicks this season. He struggled with time. Kind of, what's your message to him, and is there any thought about maybe bringing in another kicker to kind of have a little competition?