Head Coach Mike Vrabel Joins WEEI to Discuss Win Over Dolphins

Greg Hill (0:00)

Good morning, Coach.

Mike Vrabel (0:01)

Good morning.

Greg Hill (0:01)

Congratulations on win number one.

SPEAKER_3 (0:03)

Thank you.

Greg Hill (0:04)

Appreciate it. Look like, I mean, it looked like you basically did a 40 down the sideline. What would you guess your time was?

Mike Vrabel (0:11)

5.8.

Greg Hill (0:12)

5.8?

Mike Vrabel (0:14)

That headset's a lot heavier than you think.

SPEAKER_4 (0:17)

Those hamstrings ain't built like they used to be. Be careful.

Mike Vrabel (0:20)

I had a fashion at the park this morning.

Greg Hill (0:23)

I saw Steph Diggs say that you were slow. He didn't realize how slow you were.

Mike Vrabel (0:28)

Yeah, it's more for endurance than speed.

It's built for the long haul. All you need is a pass rush.

SPEAKER_4 (0:38)

Six, seven, eight yards max.

Greg Hill (0:41)

Well, Big When, I saw you say last night, the most important takeaway for you was that this team is not front running. And so you got, I'm interested in what you saw from Drake yesterday.

Mike Vrabel (0:56)

Well, I mean, again, to touch on your point, it was, that's how some of these games go. We'd love to be up 30 to 3 And if they are, then we'll plan accordingly and we'll be okay. But you get into these back and forth, and you have to just believe that you're going to make enough plays in the end to win. And I felt like we did that. That was good to see. I think we need to see it, our players needed to see it and feel it and be in there and say, hey, we could have a couple of bad plays. Somebody is going to make a play, which we did numerous times. So we answered back. Drake was very efficient. It was something that we've talked about for a long time, is just putting the ball where you're supposed to put it, where it needs to go based on their coverage in our scheme. And I thought he did that. I thought he transferred into the pocket well. Being on the silent count, good edge rushers and guys with good getoff. I thought we blocked the games. There was a lot of keys that we had, not a lot, but a couple keys in all three phases. And I felt like we hit those for the most part.

SPEAKER_4 (1:56)

Mike, we all look at those elite playmakers on offense, but this is another week where your defensive front seven are able to affect the game and get after the quarterback. You lead the league in sacks, and granted it's only two weeks, but you've consistently shown, especially in crucial situations, you can make it uncomfortable. How much of a major factor is that for just your football team in general, when you have that capability at the end of the game?

Mike Vrabel (2:25)

Yeah, and they were going hard, and it was hot. I mean, it was hot. That one was real yesterday, and I appreciated everybody's efforts in the game, and everybody that played or everybody that dressed contributed, so that was great to see. And to be able to continue to, I guess, affect the quarterback and get them to a second read, and trying to tie the coverage in, and the ex plays are something that we'll have to continue to focus on. But when we had to, I felt like we got the drive stop that was either after a drive of theirs, that we forced them to kick a field goal, or we were able to get the drive stop before a field goal.

SPEAKER_5 (3:02)

Leading up to this game when it comes to your defense, though, how important was it for the guys to show up for each other and for the team in the absence of Terrell? Like for you, did you feel like they did that for him?

Mike Vrabel (3:14)

No, I hope that they did it. I hope they did it for each other. And I don't think that Terrell would want that either. I think that they are beginning to understand each other and how everything works, and each week is a new challenge. And so I hope that they did that for them and that they played hard for them and that they were selfless for each other. I think that's the whole goal.

SPEAKER_5 (3:37)

But did you feel like the preparation, they were able to achieve exactly what Terrell would want them to achieve going into that game?

Mike Vrabel (3:43)

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, I think that that's always the case. I think that there was understanding and practice. There was communication.