Key Takeaways: Mike Vrabel Press Conference - Oct. 19

Two linemen in, a plan he won’t share, and “You can put it on me”

The bottom line: Mike Vrabel said at his Monday news conference that the Patriots are signing Andrew Rupcich and Jacob Rizy to the practice squad after three offensive linemen left Sunday’s 26-19 win over the Jets injured. He declined to say what the plan would have been if a fourth had gone down, took the blame for two lost fumbles, and said A.J. Brown played 52 snaps for a simple reason: “We were down to four guys.”

Two linemen added, and a plan he won’t share

The bottom line: Rupcich and Rizy are both former Patriots, and Vrabel said the team has to “stay pretty fluid” from here.

The details:

• “I think we’ll add [Andrew] Rupcich and [Jacob] Rizy from guys that have been here previously to help us here as we move forward,” Vrabel said. “So, I would say that we’d have to stay pretty fluid.” The team confirmed both signings to the practice squad Monday.
• Rupcich, 27, was placed on injured reserve on Aug. 15 and released with an injury settlement on Aug. 20, and he began his career under Vrabel with the Titans in 2022, the Boston Herald’s Doug Kyed reported. Rizy, 24, signed as an undrafted free agent out of Florida State in May and was released from the practice squad on Sept. 17.
• Asked what the emergency plan was if a ninth lineman had been needed, Vrabel wouldn’t say: “Oh, we’ll hold that one for a later date. There was a scenario or there was a conversation about it, so I’d hate to tell you what it was, but –”
• Asked whether the injuries had any common cause or trend: “Nope. Just how it goes.”
• On the depth question he has been asked repeatedly: “You guys ask me this question every day. I answer it the same way.” Then: “Everybody prepares as a starter.” He pointed to the players signed at the end of training camp, “which was a unique number, I think, for me,” and said the roster is used to it. “We played 91 guys in whatever, 2021, so it’s not like we’re not used to understanding that things are going to happen along the way.”

The backdrop: Tackle Morgan Moses, left guard Alijah Vera-Tucker and right guard Ben Brown all left the Jets game, and Caleb Lomu, Walter Rouse and Matt Pryor replaced them. New York did not record a sack. New England already had Mike Onwenu and Greg Van Roten on injured reserve. Vrabel praised his three offensive line coaches for the handoff: “They get them the reps that they think they need, whether that’s walkthrough reps or getting Walter Rouse ready, getting Matt [Pryor] ready. Being able to get Caleb Lomu ready on both sides to be the swing tackle - play left one week, play right another.”

On Lomu: The 28th overall pick in this year’s draft has now played extended snaps in back-to-back games. “It’s a lot of new things for him. It’s a new league for him. Coming from college, being 21, and it’s a tough position to be able to go out there and play. I think he’s gotten better,” Vrabel said. “I think that’s the goal, to continue to invest in the young guys, coach them and know that that’s going to pay dividends down the road.”

The turnovers: “You can put it on me”

The bottom line: Told he had called the turnovers embarrassing earlier Monday, Vrabel said the Patriots will rep ball security more and then put the blame on himself.

The details:

• “We’ll rep it more. We’ll put more time into it, I guess. I don’t know how you can put any more time into the amount of ball security drills we do. Take a bigger onus of protecting the guy with the ball.”
• On fumbles where the ball carrier is beaten cleanly: “Somebody beats me across my face and hammers the ball out, to share half the fumble. But I’m certainly cognizant. You can put it on me. That’s probably the easiest thing.”

The backdrop: New England turned it over twice against the Jets, both on strips. Jamien Sherwood recovered one off TreVeyon Henderson, and Minkah Fitzpatrick recovered the other after Sherwood punched the ball away from DeMario Douglas.

Brown played 52 snaps because they were down to four receivers

The bottom line: Vrabel said the snap count came down to how few receivers were available.

The details:

• “We were down to four guys, so I mean, somebody’s got to play in there. We like to have our best players available as much as they can be.”
• Brown was introduced after Drake Maye in pregame. Asked whether that was his idea: “There are things that I focus on and that I control, and there are things that I don’t. And that’s not one of them that I focus on.”
• Brown, in his first game since Week 1, caught three passes for 27 yards on a team-high 10 targets, as covered in our week 6 recap.

On Corey Kiner, who led the team in rushing and took the late carries: “I would tell you offensively, he was running and being very decisive. When you talk about that five-minute offense, not being a great runner, but being decisive in those moments, right? To be able to just hit it, and knowing that they’re going to have bodies in every gap.” On the kickoff return: “you have to be willing to run through the smoke with 20 bodies all around you.”

Milton Williams, and the smack talk

The bottom line: Williams said Vrabel talked smack to him on the sideline. Vrabel said he does that everywhere.

The details:

• “Oh, I say that all the time, not just on the sidelines. This is part of coming to work and trying to have a connection with these guys. I appreciate what Milt does – his leadership, his efforts and his impact.”
• “I hope that they give it back to me, which they do, or they give it to me and it’s back and forth. But I think that’s just part of spending a lot of time with each other and getting to know each other.” Told Williams does not seem afraid to give it back: “No. I’m fine with it, trust me.”
• Asked what it was like to see Williams get his first sack: “I know that every player wants great stats, but to be able to be disruptive, to play hard and do some of those things that he does and has continued to do in the last three weeks have really helped us defensively.”
• On Williams drawing double teams: “we talk about this all the time, make the play without making the tackle.” He added that a lineman can “create a new line of scrimmage” or pressure from a different look without getting the sack.

Chicago on Thursday

The bottom line: Vrabel called the Bears physical on both sides and said the short week is mostly a mental and recovery problem.

The details:

• “They’re physical. It’s a physical football team. Defensively, they’re connected. They play really well as a unit.” He credited Dennis Allen: “Players understand it. They play fast. They get off the field.”
• On the Bears offense: “they extend drives. They run the football. They’ve been without Caleb [Williams] for a couple weeks, but certainly you can see the impact that he makes.” Vrabel said New England will “have to be great tacklers and do something to try to change the fact that their offense is out there for 73 snaps and their defense is out there for 50.”
• On the turnaround: “There’s only so much that you can do physically here over the next couple of days. It’s got to be done mentally, but also the physical recovery that you have to put in to know by Thursday night that you’ll feel good.”

Also

• Asked about going for it on fourth-and-5 rather than attempting a 57-yard field goal, Vrabel said the kick was not out of range. “I don’t think it’s off the table. I’m just trying to do what we feel like we need to do to win the football game at that point.”
• On the kickoff unit: “I think they’re starting to take some pride.” He said opponents will start doubling Brenden Schooler, “and the other guys have to make plays and everybody has a part in that.”

Quotes are from the Patriots’ official transcript of the news conference.

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Our take

Vrabel gave the depth question the same answer he always gives, and so far he’s been right. Three linemen went down Sunday and the Jets didn’t get a sack. But the fix is two practice-squad signings and a Thursday kickoff, and the guys who finished that game were Lomu, Rouse and Pryor. It’s working and it shouldn’t have to be.

Brown is the other one. He played 52 snaps and caught three balls because there was nobody else to put out there. The turnover answer was the most honest thing he said: he’s run out of drills to add.