The Patriots are just nine days away from the Super Bowl 60 rematch that opens the NFL season, and Mike Vrabel is looking to the defense to be the reason New England comes out on top this time around.
“The teams will be a little bit different, but they’re good up front. We’ll have to block them better. We’ll have to be able to stand up at the line of scrimmage, be able to stop the run. We’re going to have to get some turnovers,” Vrabel told WEEI’s ‘Greg Hill Show’ during his weekly appearance Monday. “We always say that, but that was really the thing – we did a decent job in the last time we played them.”
The Seattle Seahawks beat the Patriots 29-13 in February, slamming shut what had been a storybook first season for Vrabel. He praised the defense’s ability to hold Seattle’s offense to field goals until the fourth quarter of that game.
“We forced them to kick field goals and we couldn’t - I was hoping for that one turnover that would give us the opportunity to score a touchdown. We never got that,” he said. “Hopefully we can do enough defensively that we can create some turnovers. We’ll have to stay balanced offensively so it doesn’t just turn into a drop back passing game.”
Defensive backs have noted all summer long how generating turnovers is a major goal of their group this year, and the Patriots’ secondary looks elite. The front office put their money where their mouth was in at least one instance when they acquired All-Pro safety Kevin Byard, who led the league in picks last year with the Chicago Bears.
But Vrabel was unwilling to provide any update on the contract status of star cornerback Christian Gonzalez. Gonzalez, who has been mired in negotiations for an enormous contract extension all summer, was the silver lining to the Patriots’ otherwise dismal showing in Super Bowl 60. He told media the talks had reached a “frustrating” point during the final days of training camp. He was a full participant until the team held joint practices. Vrabel shared that an injury kept him out of that portion of the program.
New England’s starters should have fresh legs for the opening game, as very few played any snaps during the preseason slate. Quarterback Drake Maye joined a list of a dozen starting quarterbacks who didn’t play at all in a preseason game, (as noted by ESPN’s Mike Reiss). Vrabel didn’t express concern that Maye would have any rust in the game, but noted the team’s lack of depth in the immediate aftermath of their second preseason game, against the Philadelphia Eagles.
The Patriots will travel to Seattle next week and take on the Seahawks Wednesday, September 9th at 8:20 pm.
