Head Coach Mike Vrabel 11/8: "It’s on all of us. It starts with me”

SPEAKER_1 (0:00)

Mike, as you watched the game unfold, what went through your mind in terms of what you were seeing?

Mike Vrabel (0:08)

Well, just needed to get some stops early, you know what I mean? Obviously, take care of the football. It wasn't the start, and I thought that we made it competitive. I thought we did some things early, or excuse me, before halftime that was a 10-point lead last week. And then we just talked about what's done is done, you know, trying to be able to come out and get a stop. And I thought if we did that, we would be able to get back into the game.

That didn't happen. You know, it's tough when you don't get any turnovers and allow ex-plays, and then you turn it over offensively. And Roach in the back.

SPEAKER_4 (0:46)

Mike, obviously a tough loss all the way around, but what did you see from Christian Gonzalez, who obviously struggled today?

Mike Vrabel (0:52)

Yeah, I mean, again, when your best players don't play good, you don't have much of a chance in this league. So we expect a lot more. He expects a lot more. We need more from him and everybody else. It wasn't just him. I mean, again, we got to be able to coach and be prepared, and then we have to execute. So just like it is every single week when we don't win, it's all of us, and it starts with me.

SPEAKER_5 (1:23)

How disappointing were the four turnovers, and what were the Packers doing to make life tough on Drake?

Mike Vrabel (1:28)

Well, I mean, the turnovers are disappointing because, you know, first of all, that's what they've done all year, so that's not a surprise. I mean, 17%, 18% of their drives end in a turnover. We just added to that, so, you know, between the pressure and, you know, I think probably a little bit of scheme and a lot of execution on their end. I mean, guys made plays. I thought, you know, there were some positive plays that we had and then certainly some ball placements and decisions that, you know, certainly have to be better.

SPEAKER_3 (2:06)

Sophie Rolland-Wright.

Sophie Rolland-Wright (2:08)

Hey, Mike. With Ramondre Stevenson, I'm curious, we obviously saw him go out at the end of the game there.

Was the decision to kind of rule him out immediately due to the score at all, or was there something bigger there?

Mike Vrabel (2:21)

I wasn't able to return, so I have to get, I'm not sure the extent of what it is. It just came off. So we'll take a look at it, and we'll see. I don't want to speculate right now, but.

SPEAKER_3 (2:36)

Mike, you had stressed during Drake's tough start about decision-making, being decisive with the football, sort of playing free. It looked like he had gotten past that sort of period of time in the first three weeks. You're surprised to see him maybe fall back into that a little bit?

Mike Vrabel (2:51)

I mean, I'm surprised about just the way that the day went, the way that it started, and then I guess kind of how the third quarter went. And I think that would be part of the, whether it's the surprise or just disappointed. And again, that's sometimes in this league, these things happen, and it's unfortunate, and we certainly didn't prepare for it.

I'm sure he'll rebound, and we'll get him ready to go. We got a tough challenge looking ahead of us, but certainly can't win playing that way, and turning the ball over and not creating turnovers defensively and giving up X plays.

SPEAKER_7 (3:34)

Hey, Mike, to your right. This is three straight weeks now with a slow start. It was 10-0 against Chicago, 13-3 against the Dolphins, and now 17-0 against the Packers.

How troubled are you by this and what can be done to fix it, I guess?

Mike Vrabel (3:49)

Well, we'll just have to try to practice and maybe change. There's a lot of things that we'll have to think about and try to do and focus on how we start practice, making sure that we're ready to go. It's tough to spot good teams, any sort of lead, and we've done that. So, that was something that we talked about going to Miami, and that didn't happen, and then something that we continue to talk about this week, and we just have to realize that what we're going to get early in the game is we're getting everybody's best, and certainly whatever they feel like their scheme plays are, things that they feel like are going to help.

We just weren't able to get off the field and then certainly the turnover there early. Kind of derailed us.