Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel may be 50 years old, but he proved to his young starting quarterback he’s still got it when cameras captured his sprint down the sideline as Antonio Gibson returned a kickoff for a touchdown in the Patriots’ win over the Dolphins.
Wide receiver Stefon Diggs joked with media postgame that Vrabel looked, “slow as hell,” but Drake Maye told “WEEI Afternoons” that Vrabel’s run was noteworthy in the extreme Miami conditions.
“I’m more impressed he didn’t pull a hammy or something. It was hot down there, [could’ve] started cramping. I thought it was pretty cool.
I was watching it from a different angle, it was fun. Once he got the edge out there, I knew he was gone. What a play and it was funny to see coach running down,” he said.
Maye reflected on the first win of the Vrabel era and extoled the energy his coach has brought back to Foxboro:
“It’s an awesome feeling. We wanted to get the one last week, but, you know, it’s a good feeling to get one on the road, against a divisional opponent. It’s such an emotional game, back and forth, so I can’t imagine – well, I could imagine, I was in the locker room. Good to get a win. It took everybody. It was cool to see everybody respond and I appreciate what coach has brought this year and to this organization as of yet.”
He said he subscribes to a “24-hour rule” of relishing the victory. However, he knows the 33-27 win was far from perfect, and looks forward to getting back to work ahead of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ visit.
“One of the big things is, we’ve still got to learn from it – learn from things you could improve on, learn from mistakes, learn from penalties, learn from situational football. And take that, and let it help us down the road. That’s a big thing,” he said. “And also learning how to come off a win and get back to work at practice this week.”