Head Coach Mike Vrabel 9/8: "We're never going to be perfect, we just want to be precise"

Mike Vrabel (0:00)

Hey, how are you?

SPEAKER_2 (0:01)

Good morning.

SPEAKER_3 (0:02)

Okay, good morning. Given the firepower you have in your running back room, how disappointing was it, you know, that that group was kind of held in check for the game?

Mike Vrabel (0:15)

Yeah, I mean, I think to have a successful offensive play, it takes really everybody. It takes the play caller, right, getting the play in efficiently. It takes us being able to identify the players that we need to block, the ones that we're not going to be able to block, and the ones that when we block them and we're in combination, then we have to move them, and then the backs have to run where they're not. And we say that. So again, it's not just the players that we have that we're handing the ball to, it's everybody. And again, we have a lot of confidence in the running backs, but also we have to be able to have a great execution in any scheme, whether that's a zone scheme, gap scheme.

And so again, the bottom line is we have to run the ball better, and we have to run it more efficiently, because then I think that all opens up, you know, some more of the stuff that we're doing and can do and want to be able to do so that it's not just a drop back passing game.

SPEAKER_4 (1:16)

You guys went away from the run a lot in the second half. I don't think the Montreal Orchard have gone down in areas. Was that just because the run game was inefficient?

Mike Vrabel (1:24)

Yeah, it was just wasn't, you know, wasn't one of our better plays. And again, we just have to take advantage of the plays that we do call and hit it when we have guys open and just being able to start the second half and being able to go down there and continue that drive. And unfortunately, you know, not turn it over and be able to create some momentum in that situation.

SPEAKER_5 (1:49)

Mike, you talked about this real briefly after the game, but would the benefit of hindsight, any more thoughts about deciding to play with roughly five or something?

Mike Vrabel (1:57)

I mean, I don't think so. I think that the way that the game was going, I mean, again, hindsight, yeah, I mean, we were going to get the fourth and ten and go down there and score a touchdown and stop them and, you know, but they don't let us do that. You know, we have to make a decision. You have to be decisive. And then, once you do that, you have to execute on the field. And so, we weren't good enough. It didn't turn out to be the right decision and it didn't turn out to be the right execution. And unfortunately, when you get into those situations down to scores like that, everything has to be perfect. Everything has to be perfect. And so, that's why you have to avoid those situations at all costs.

SPEAKER_2 (2:37)

Mike, on the radio this morning, talking about the run game, you mentioned something along the lines of, you know, there might be issues that a team presents us. They might be in a certain front, and then we have to get away from it, or we think we have to get away from a certain front. Did they give you something that you weren't expecting?

Mike Vrabel (2:52)

Well, they just, there were different pieces and different guys moving to different parts of the area. And whether we wanted to run a play at a certain player, you're never going to know. And I think we just have to rely on our base rules, base fundamentals, you know, block the bigs and block the backers. And again, you're going to have to do something to get to safety, and sometimes the corners are the ones that are left in some of these run games. So because you either can RPO it, you can read somebody, or they're going to have a player again, widest from the formation that in theory is free. So we have to pick something each play and decide how we want to run it, but not be, you know, tentative in making sure that we're never going to be perfect, right? You just want to be precise. And I think that that's going to be the message to us going forward, is how we improve. And we can't rely, and we can't think that every play is going to be perfect. It's never going to be that way. And when it isn't perfect, that we somehow have some sort of reaction, and we need to make sure that we have a great response and continue to stay positive and have positive plays, overcome whatever penalties and things that we have to fix, and we have to protect the ball. We have to make sure that we protect the football, and it takes everybody.