On Sunday night in Baltimore, the Patriots (12-3) pulled off the type of comeback victory we haven’t seen since the days of Brady and Belichick.
Down 11 with 12:50 remaining in the fourth quarter, New England came away from Baltimore with a 28-24 win over the Ravens (7-8), clinching a playoff berth for the first time since 2021 and showing the entire country that this team is capable of grinding out a gritty win against a talented roster.
Come Monday morning, the mood around Patriots Nation was nothing but celebratory, as fans have nothing but gratitude for the type of culture head coach Mike Vrabel has been able to set in place in just his first year on the job.
But as rumors linger of an internal strain between Vrabel and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, WEEI’s Courtney Cox gave Vrabel the runway on Monday morning’s Greg Hill Show to set the record straight on his relationship with the six-time Super Bowl-winning assistant.
For full context, here’s both the question and answer:
Courtney Cox: “Mike, I hate to even ask this because it gives more breath to the conspiracy that is out there. But after your answer to us last week when we asked about Josh McDaniels and the play calling, and you called it ‘cute,’ Wiggy and I have been fighting with everybody that there's no issue when it comes to you and Josh McDaniels - the working relationship, you respect each other and you believe in what he can do for this team. But there are people that ran with that and said that there's clearly a divide there. Can you just speak on that and put that to rest?”
Mike Vrabel: “There's no issue with any one of our coaches and me. If there's a problem, they know about it. Guys, this is - like, we're trying to win games. What this coaching staff - Josh, Zach [Kuhr], [John Streicher], Jeremy [Springer] - what they've been able to accomplish - again, when we win, this is on our players, but our coaches have gotten a group of guys ready, and it's it's a blended group, and it's a group that they try to bring together, and we have really done a nice job of coming together as a coaching staff, and then focused on the players.
“They all have different roles, and I'm extremely happy to have every single one of them. And so they're going to pick up the pieces. I gotta figure out who's available this week, and they're gonna get to work already on the Jets, and try to give our players the best chance. And they're gonna pour into their players, and they're gonna do everything that they've done. And so that's Josh included, and every one of them. So that's about all we're going to stand there and talk about here with the staff, or anything else. This is a collective group, and I am excited to be a part of it.”
Vrabel and McDaniels’ relationship dates back to 2001, when the now 50-year-old head coach had signed as a free agent with the Patriots after four unremarkable years with the Steelers, and the now 49-year-old offensive coordinator had joined the organization as a personnel assistant after just one year of professional coaching experience under his belt - he served as a grad assistant on Nick Saban’s staff at Michigan State in 1999.
McDaniels was actually the person responsible for picking Vrabel up at the airport upon arriving in New England, and both have spoken at length about how their strong relationship grew from there.
Ahead of the 2002 season, McDaniels was promoted to a defensive assistant role - a job he held for two seasons before switching to the offensive side of the football as quarterbacks coach ahead of the 2004 season. In that defensive role, his relationship with Vrabel grew even further, as he sat in many a meeting room with the Patriots Hall of Fame linebacker as the low man on the totem pole of a coaching staff filled with larger than life personalities.
Many in the media have floated the idea that McDaniels being brought back for a third stint as offensive coordinator with this franchise was a “Kraft hire,” where the rest of the coaching staff is made up of “Vrabel guys.”
And while Vrabel has routinely brought up other coaches whenever it’s been time to talk about McDaniels in a positive light at the podium or during interviews, those additional mentions have always come in the vein of being inclusive to everyone on his staff, not in a way where he’s looking to pass credit for McDaniels’ success on to other coaches.
Parsing every word these players and coaches say is a part of this business. And in fairness to the media that have done this with the McDaniels stuff, there undoubtedly has been an effort from Vrabel to be inclusionary with his praise for everyone on his staff. But when asked directly about this potential rift, the 2021 NFL Coach of the Year was quick to shut it down.
Vrabel and his staff get back at in Week 17 with a road game against the Jets (3-12). FanDuel currently lists New England as a 12.5-point favorite, sitting on the moneyline at -900.
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.