On Monday, Patriots (8-2) head coach Mike Vrabel made his regular weekly visit with The Greg Hill Show after yet another win, as his team went into Tampa and beat the Buccaneers (6-3) 28-23 for their most impressive victory of the season.
With his team now six games above .500 and with a weak schedule ahead, New England is in a prime position to take a stab at the top seed in the AFC in 2025.
After consecutive 4-13 seasons, it’s amazing to see the team in this position, but that’s what happens when your second-year quarterback takes an enormous step forward while, at the same time, you hire the exact right guy as head coach at the exact right time in his career.
Maye is the maestro on the field, and Vrabel is the man setting the culture at large. For a 10-game sample size, it looks like it did for two decades with a coach and a quarterback in similar roles.
Since losing in Week 3 to Pittsburgh (5-4), everything is coming up Pats. They’ve won seven in a row for the first time since 2021, and it seems like every button they push week-to-week leads to a different player stepping up and making key plays.
If there’s anything to question about that operation right now at 1 Patriot Place, it’s the lack of activity at this year’s trade deadline. November 4 came and went, and New England was left empty handed. And with key guys getting banged up on Sunday at Raymond James Stadium, it only reinforced the sentiment that this team should have been more aggressive in their attempt to bolster their depth.
Then you hear reports like this one from Mike Giardi of Boston Sports Journal, and you want to give the Patriots the benefit of the doubt:
"I was also told there has been some conversation league-wide that Tennessee might be unwilling to make deals with New England because the owner, Amy Adams Strunk, continues to think too much about how things ended with Vrabel and is not inclined to help his new team.”
If this is true, that’s some all-time petty behavior from an owner who was ultimately the one who opted to fire her 2021 NFL Coach of the Year just two seasons after winning his role’s highest individual honor. If there’s anyone that should be petty, it’s Vrabel.
So with there not being much to question about the way his team is playing on Sundays, WEEI’s Greg Hill took some time on Monday to give Vrabel the opportunity to address this rumor.
“Always like to give you the chance on this show to clear things up that are floating around out in the out in the ether,” said Greg. “And there was a report last week that the Titans owner Amy Adams Strunk was unwilling to talk trades with this team. Is that accurate, or is that just nonsense?”
Vrabel’s response was short and frosty, saying, “I haven't talked to Amy since the day she fired me, so her name and my name should not be in the same sentence together, because I haven't talked to her since the day she fired me.”
…well alrighty then!
I’m inclined to believe Vrabel on that one. With that said, it’s not a direct answer to Greg’s question.
But in that non-answer is everything we need to know about where that relationship stands for the Patriots Hall of Fame linebacker, whose comments praising the Kraft family during his red jacket induction ceremony in 2023 reportedly irked Strunk from a far. There are reports out there that say these comments were the beginning of the end for Vrabel with his old employer:
"I don't want you to take this organization for granted. I've been a lot of places. This is a special place with great leadership, great fans, great direction and great coaching. Enjoy it, it's not like this everywhere"
Fast forward two years, and Vrabel is now a part of that great leadership structure in Foxborough. Whether or not the Titans (1-8) were willing to trade any of the players from their middling roster to the Patriots is just a headline, not a storyline.
This team is on a path to do some special things this year, and all that should matter as it relates to Tennessee is how Vrabel’s prior experience there is going to help take his current team back to an elite level on a consistent basis moving forward.
He’ll have a short turnaround this week, as his team gets back at it for Week 11 on Thursday Night Football. They’ll host the Jets (2-7) at Gillette Stadium in primetime on Amazon.
As of publishing, the Patriots are a 10.5-point favorite, sitting on the moneyline at -700 at BetMGM. The total for Thursday is set at 44.5.
Tune in each and every Monday throughout the football season to Patriots Monday on WEEI. Head coach Mike Vrabel joins The Greg Hill Show at 6:30 a.m. ET, and quarterback Drake Maye joins WEEI Afternoons.