December 2, 2025 • 20 mins
Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel joins WEEI's "The Greg Hill Show" on Tuesday, December 2, 2025. Vrabel discusses the win over the Giants, the defenses performance, how the games get bigger going forward, players stepping up in the light of injuries and more.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good morning, coach, Good morning, victory shot time. Once again,
(00:02):
here us get us going Congress. That is eleven of them.
M hmm all right, m little energy boost and a tradition,
and we can't stop doing it.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Because baby's gonna come out just unified him. Wake me up,
get you going.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
It will well late night last night, by the way,
we were sold a bill of goods by.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
The guys doing the broadcast, Buck and Aikman.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
They said, you'd have the stash taken care of this morning,
and it's.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
That was not on the top of my list. It
was just trying to get down here this so you're
going to keep it no going today.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
I like the cleats. Yeah, pretty cool, cool, pretty.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
Cool and certainly, uh that's eleven wins and a uh.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
A good effort here at home. And that's a team.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
It's so interesting WIGGI talks all about has been talking
a lot this season more than any other about parody
in the league. And that's a you look at that
Giants team they beat, the Eagles, beat the Chargers. It's uh,
that's that's a football team that could have could have
bothered you.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
Well, I think they all can you know, and if
you don't show up ready to go, and you don't
do the things that that are important to winning, and
you don't play complimentary, and you take a nap, you lose.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
But I thought it was cool just talking about.
Speaker 3 (01:26):
My shoes and the player's shoes and just the causes
that they have and seeing you know, Drake and and
the rest of our team and Gonzo, you know, things
that they hold deer to them. I think is important.
So I'm glad that they were able to do that
on a national stage.
Speaker 4 (01:45):
Now I need you to give me the lottery numbers,
because I think it was last week you said Jones
is gonna pop punt return and he actually did it.
What did you see on that play that ultimately led
to him being able to score?
Speaker 3 (01:58):
You got to get him started, and to do that,
you got to block the guys on the edges.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
I thought our guys did that.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
I thought Charles Woods, I thought Myles Battle uh got
you know, did their job. Dell got them started, and
then you're gonna need some some blocks, some legal blocks
down down there to to spring them for a touchdown.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
And I thought guys were doing that.
Speaker 3 (02:16):
And yeah, we do that on Friday, and it's not
that pace, but it's like, okay, he catches.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
He catches the last one, and you know, the show team's.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
Running down on the punt and everybody's kind of finishing
and he kind of weaves in and out and goes
and scores. And I'm standing over there, I'm like, well,
looks just like it did on Friday. I said, that's
that's pretty good or whatever Saturday was for.
Speaker 5 (02:38):
So, the last couple of weeks, we've asked you about
the defense starting off slow and how do you fix that?
Last night they were firing on all cylinders. They looked
so fired up. Did anything change in practice this week
that got them there or it just was working for them.
Speaker 3 (02:52):
No, I just appreciate how they came out and they
were aggressive. It'd been a while since we'd played, and
it just was a long week, and and we talked
about attacking and aggressive and just saying, hey, if they're
going to run a quarterback or if they're going to
run a gadget play, it's it's hard to scheme these
gadget plays up and sometimes the the best answer is
(03:12):
is violence and and and some of those guys chose that,
and that was good to see.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
Missing obviously missing a couple of guys on the line
last night, but you get next next, next man up
from low.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
Yeah, that's this league is about that and making sure
that guys get in there. And you know, Ben played
a lot last week, Verderian played most of the you know,
second half, and so they had a week of work.
I thought it was a good plan that the players
believed in and and ultimately they went out and performed,
and I think we're excited about playing.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
I heard a suggestion yesterday somebody, uh insider, that you
guys wanted to make sure Will Campbell didn't rush himself back,
hence putting them on.
Speaker 3 (03:54):
Yeah, I don't, I mean it was I mean, I'm
gonna assume that every player wants to get back as
fast as possible. So there's a lot of reports on
everything that we do, not going to say which ones
are close to accurate or which ones aren't. But eventually,
you know, I mean, I'm going to make the decisions
on how the players play, are they not? And I
(04:16):
go through the same thing. Can they protect themselves, can
they make it worse? And then they can do their
job up to what we expect of them and what
they expected themselves, and so we felt like the best
thing was, you know, put Will on ir and he's
working hard to come back, just like everybody else.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
That wasn't available in the football game.
Speaker 6 (04:35):
A lot of online and post game pontificating saying that
the Patriots were head hunting Jackson Dart. The New York
media is all up in arms that the chippiness of
the Patriots. What would you think? How would you describe
the defense's performance last night?
Speaker 2 (04:47):
I thought it was good. I thought it was excellent.
I thought that.
Speaker 3 (04:53):
I didn't see anything on the first view that would
tell me that. And again, this is both sides, and
this happens in this league. And if you're in bounds
and you're not sliding, you know, again, when Harold the
first sack, when Harold got him, I said, hey, gotta
be careful.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
You know.
Speaker 3 (05:08):
I mean, I don't think he was going for his
head and he just slid, you know, I mean, Harold's
coming at him and he slid. I said, just got
to be careful like this. We know when the quarterback slides,
they're protecting him and we have to go in, you know,
make sure that that he's down and giving himself up.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
But We're not hitting him in the head or neck.
Speaker 3 (05:25):
We coach that all the time. We know that that's
what happens. You know, the quarterbacks are going to slide late,
they're going to be protected. We can say anything we
want about it. We just have to understand what they're
calling and what we have to do. But there's a
football guy player running down the sidelines, we're going to
have to We're going to have to hit him. And
let's just go through this every week on a Friday
(05:47):
tape and we put it on there. It's whatever quarterback
of a week. It happens twice a week. They're over
there prancing around and you're.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
Gonna get hit.
Speaker 3 (05:56):
And if we show that to Drake and our defenders
are being coached the same way. When I say we
better not get cued over there by the sidelines, because
this is legal, I turn around and tell the defense
if this is happening, you know, we need to try
to knock out of them as legally as possible.
Speaker 4 (06:14):
Mike, we as fans, we always have expectations prior to
the season, during the season, throughout the season.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
I'm glad that they change. They change, And so I
was going to ask you this.
Speaker 4 (06:25):
As a coach, do you do you take that same approach, like,
does your expectations change throughout the season?
Speaker 2 (06:34):
No, I mean I think that that's probably a good question.
I don't.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
And our expectations are trying to figure out what we
need to do to improve, what we need to do
to give ourselves a chance to win football game, and
try to do it as consistently as possible each and
every week. Try not to get caught up too much
in things that are interesting. We focus on things that
are important and what we need to do the next
week and what the next next task is.
Speaker 5 (07:00):
You brought up Harold, but then also Christian Ellis it
felt like it was a statement game for physicality for
you guys. It looked like for the naive I like
myself watching the game, that it was the most physical
you guys looked this season. Did it feel that way
for you and was it a statement to the rest
of the league of how physical you guys?
Speaker 2 (07:20):
Can't we all need to make a statement to anybody
in the league.
Speaker 3 (07:22):
We just need to focus on ourselves and try to
continue to improve and always talk about earning the respect
of the guy next to you and the guy across
from you. That's all that we're trying to do. We
take a lot of pride in the way we cover kicks.
Said that when they were the top five kickoff returning it,
we were number six in the league.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
And kickoff coverage.
Speaker 3 (07:42):
I expect us to be top five in the league
and kickoff coverage by the time the season ends. And
so that was a challenge for us. We have to
go down there and send a message.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
Courtney.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
I wouldn't say your eyes are naive. You go, you
go to a lot of football games. I think we
could actually if you're if you're able to take a
look at the screen. Court and he was at a
game on Sunday.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
Where'd you go? She was down in three Rivers. Yeah,
I don't even know the three Rivers, the names of them.
Speaker 5 (08:12):
No.
Speaker 3 (08:13):
Wow, that's a lot of Steeler gear for somebody that
the River Stadium. Actually we a lot.
Speaker 2 (08:19):
Almost notice that there's a lot of that. The guy meant, yes, yeah,
he's got he's got the he's got the champions hat
on there.
Speaker 5 (08:29):
Well, honestly, if you want to feel myself, I'm on
a I'm on a tour and so next week I
think I'm headed to the Ohio State and then maybe
after Walsh Jesuit in Ohio.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
State doesn't play.
Speaker 3 (08:42):
Yeah, maybe they did walk in the campus Welsh Jesuit
unfortunately lost in the state.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
Semi okay, some are some are calling it treason.
Speaker 1 (08:51):
Against the bill, traitorous activity against the bill.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
Do you have did you have a good time you
hang out? Yeah, big time.
Speaker 3 (08:59):
At least if you'd a fan like you know the Rivers,
the names of the Rivers at.
Speaker 2 (09:03):
The stadium sat on your favorite all time Steeler, probably
you thank you. That's a better answer. She's got a name, Frank,
you got it out of the way there. So your
husband's the fan.
Speaker 5 (09:22):
No, one of my best friends has a very strong connection.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
To the Steelers. So we go very strong, very strong.
And you want me to translate that air, I mean
I'm always.
Speaker 1 (09:33):
Repping the Patsy no matter what not Away, I would never,
I would never.
Speaker 2 (09:38):
Well, you guys make your great You guys had a
good time. We had a We had a great time.
Aaron Rodgers definitely doesn't have a wife.
Speaker 6 (09:44):
But other than that, Ohio State was mentioned. They were
talking to Brady this weekend on the Fox kickoff before
Ohio State, Michigan and he was reminiscing on how many
bets he lost to you with the Ohio State. What
was the best thing you got Brady to do as
part of those rivalry bets that.
Speaker 3 (10:02):
They wore my jersey for practice one days and then
it was whatever.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
He wanted to bet, he would we would bet.
Speaker 3 (10:09):
So those were good Christmases for the kids back in
the day to uh to.
Speaker 2 (10:14):
Make a wager. Yeah, I wore j.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
I know you don't like comparisons, But Curtis earlier this
morning during his lead said that this season season two
for a quarterback, Drake is better than Tom Brady was
season number two.
Speaker 2 (10:33):
Any any input from you on that?
Speaker 3 (10:35):
No, I mean it probably was a different It was
a different offense, and I would say, I mean there
were probably more screen passes, more you.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
Know, underneath throws to Troy Brown.
Speaker 3 (10:46):
I think it was just a different game back that
it was, you know, two thousand and one, and so
I don't think things that quite opened up like they
have now and with the different personnel groups and the
multiple receiver sets.
Speaker 6 (10:58):
But would you say that there is been more on
Drake's shoulders here through thirteen weeks than was on Brady's
in two thousand and one.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
The roster of the team.
Speaker 3 (11:08):
Yeah, I mean that's a long time ago. I don't
really have the best memory of that. I just think that,
you know, the circumstances around that season were very unique,
and Tom being able to step in there and you know,
lead the football team and us you know, five and
five after ten weeks and whatever that season was. I
(11:30):
think they're all different, but certainly that one was unique
and nothing that I've been.
Speaker 6 (11:34):
A part of.
Speaker 2 (11:35):
I don't want I don't want to pile on, but
have you ever seen a kicker miss the ball?
Speaker 5 (11:39):
Like?
Speaker 3 (11:41):
I mean, I've done that. How many times do you
smoke a drive down the middle of the feet the
fair way? We're talking about that, I'll make a six?
What we were saying, you take it?
Speaker 2 (11:50):
I mean, just saw just.
Speaker 3 (11:53):
Rolls right over the ball. I mean, just pipe a drive,
it's like, and just saw it comes over the ball.
I don't know, I didn't know if it was a fake.
I'm watching on the sidelines and what you know, and then.
Speaker 2 (12:08):
It's like the turf monster got him.
Speaker 3 (12:11):
Yeah, it's again, I don't envy that position at all
that you know, might just being able to go out
there and operate, and again, nobody cares about the long
snapper and the holder and kicker until the operation isn't good.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
So I don't envy that that position.
Speaker 4 (12:26):
You talk about, you know, just the way your offense
looks passing wise, just you know, just the evolution of
Drake May this season, you know, and some of those balls,
especially some of those deep balls that he's just like
dropping in a bucket. What have you seen from him
as far as his growth through this season When it
comes to his.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
Accuracy, we talk about it every week. Just the accuracy.
Speaker 3 (12:49):
To move off of the spot or transfer up into
the pocket, keep his eyes downfield, remain calm and not tense,
I think is pretty critical.
Speaker 2 (13:01):
I think that there's an.
Speaker 3 (13:02):
Athletic delivery and there's a looseness that you sometimes he's
and I think you do something you try to whether
you're playing baseball or try to hit a golf ball.
If we're just talking about and you're trying to choke
the life out of the grip and you're just squeezing,
it's so tight that it just there's nothing to it.
And I just think they're watching him throw sometimes that
(13:23):
there is just a there's a looseness and there's an
athleticism to him that allows.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
Him to be accurate and put the ball where he
wants to pretty ball.
Speaker 5 (13:33):
That's that we were talking about Steph Diggs at the
beginning of the show. He was talking to media after
about how the team is keeping each other accountable. He
also talked about the little back and forth with you
that was funny on the sideline when he was helping
the guy up that he knocked over.
Speaker 2 (13:47):
You said, go go go, he will help him up. Yeah, yeah, Yeah.
Speaker 5 (13:50):
It seems like we were served a narrative about him
that was very negative before he got here and it
was clearly wrong.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
How proud are you of him.
Speaker 5 (13:59):
That he's been able to prove himself not just on
the field, but also as the type of guy he
is to the rest of New England.
Speaker 3 (14:05):
Well, I think it just goes back to the recovery
and the rehab, how hard he worked and we didn't
want to put a timeline on anything, but.
Speaker 2 (14:15):
He was ready to go.
Speaker 3 (14:16):
He's practiced I would imagine every single day or every
day that we've you know, wanted him to practice by plan.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
He's remained durable.
Speaker 3 (14:26):
He has an energy and a spirit to him that
I think the guys gravitate towards.
Speaker 2 (14:31):
But I would say the biggest thing and the thing that.
Speaker 3 (14:33):
I'm most probably impressed by, is that he has the
ability to laugh at himself. I mean, this is nowadays.
It's hard sometimes guys, you know, I mean, he's in
the public eye and you don't have the ability to
laugh at yourself and you take yourself way too seriously.
And I appreciate that with everybody, and especially Steph, and
(14:56):
that you know, whether guys are getting on Drake or
they're getting on Steph. And I think that that's the
thing I'm probably most proud of. And if they make
fun of me, that I got to laugh at it.
And I think that's all part of it. It's all
part of being a team.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
You've talked about frustrations sometimes in the red zone. You
end up that first drive last night and uh walk
away with three not seven. I'm sure that's something that you're.
Speaker 2 (15:18):
Yeah, we'll look at it. We'll we'll continue to try to.
Speaker 3 (15:21):
Uh, you know, figure out how to how to get
it in there.
Speaker 2 (15:25):
Uh and.
Speaker 3 (15:26):
Make sure that we're doing everything that we can to
score touchdowns. And you know, it's just the precision and
the timing and everything has to be perfect. And you know,
if you if you run it, you got to score
with your guy, you got to move somebody into the
end zone. And so there's a lot of things that
go into it, and those aren't those aren't excuses.
Speaker 7 (15:43):
Those are that's the facts, and that those are things
that we have to continue to improve on.
Speaker 6 (15:49):
Big bye week plans, you guys going away for a bit.
What's the players looking like for time off this week?
Speaker 3 (15:53):
The time players will have plenty of time, The coaches
will have plenty of time. I think that everybody's earned
the right to to get away from here, but also
focus on things that we can do to improve and
places that we can put the players to help them,
whether that's the red zone or both phases, you know,
whatever it is that we're doing, figuring out if there's
(16:15):
things that we need to tinker with. I don't think
you can make wholesale changes at this time of the year,
but there's something that we can do that can help
us in some of those areas that maybe aren't up to.
Speaker 7 (16:27):
Par with some of the other ones that we'll have
to do and then get back and prepare for Buffalo
a huge division game here, don't how.
Speaker 4 (16:38):
Pleased were you with the balance of your special teams
offense and defenseless.
Speaker 3 (16:43):
I mean, it was fun to watch. It felt like
there was a flow, felt like they were feeding off
each other, there was an energy. We asked that the
special teams set the table for us in each phase
and you know, get the drive started if it's a return,
and we did that obviously on the pub return and
you know, being able to cover kicks and do those
(17:05):
things that are going to help the defense and create
some energy. And it certainly did. And anytime you can
turn the football over in that area. Albeit it led
to three points, but still critical three points.
Speaker 4 (17:17):
Do you like the fact that because I'm really I'm
enjoying the fact of what they did, especially for the
kickoff return rule where it actually has turned back that
play back into something, whether it's a big return or
in last night's game, a huge play on a kickoff coverage.
Speaker 3 (17:34):
I think that you have to be sound and you
can see that there's a lot of early down contributors
on those phases. So I mean, you just see that
we have starting players that are on that unit, and
you know, we have to continue to work and see
how we can improve a kickoff return. But I mean
it's the league refers to it as an action play,
(17:56):
and you know there's a lot of action on it.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
Want to get your opinion as a guy who coached
in college a little bit. We've been talking about Lane
Kiffin and just in general, good thing or a bad
thing when it comes to college. Do they need to
adjust the way the hiring process goes when you have
a guy leave a program like that where they're at
right now.
Speaker 2 (18:18):
I mean, here's what I would say.
Speaker 3 (18:19):
I would say that as close I don't The NFL
doesn't have everything figured out and it's not perfect, but
I would say that any chance that they could have
and mirror the rules that we have, whether that's on
the playing field, off the field, timeline, etc. I mean,
when you start paying players, it's professional football. And I
(18:43):
do think that the NFL has some really good ideas
and they've done it and they've worked through a lot
of these potholes and things that happen along the road,
and we should try to help them manage their game
the best that we can.
Speaker 6 (19:00):
Did it ever get close or theoretical in your mind?
The opportunity to return to college as a head coach,
maybe at Ohio State when you were fired from Tennessee
or was it always stay in the NFL.
Speaker 3 (19:11):
I mean I looked at every opportunity that was presented
to me, and that that opportunity wasn't presented to me.
So yeah, I would say that I would have looked
at anything that. I mean, when you get fired, you you.
Speaker 2 (19:29):
Beggars, can't choose.
Speaker 1 (19:31):
Well, thank god it didn't happen. We're glad you're here.
Courtney wants you to coach the Steelers. I mean, that's
a whole different, whole.
Speaker 2 (19:38):
Different are you from there? She's a New England girl?
It says it on her on her bio. I am
on Instagram.
Speaker 5 (19:47):
See me for supporting a friend.
Speaker 2 (19:49):
You know, I want the extra mile to Robert Morris.
You got into b C. Yeah, w tell them take
me at that. There's the hosband. That's actually that's cute.
(20:10):
I would thank you.
Speaker 5 (20:11):
I got one, Yeah, thank you.
Speaker 1 (20:15):
Listen.
Speaker 2 (20:16):
We'll let you like, let you get to work. Guys,
you're sitting in a suite two and three Rivers. That's
really nice.
Speaker 1 (20:21):
That yeah, wow, nice to have oil fans when you're
liking when the Steelers all right, coach, thanks appreciate it,
have a great, great week, and we'll we'll talk to
you again a couple of weeks
Good morning, coach, Good morning, victory shot time. Once again,
(00:02):
here us get us going Congress. That is eleven of them.
M hmm all right, m little energy boost and a tradition,
and we can't stop doing it.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Because baby's gonna come out just unified him. Wake me up,
get you going.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
It will well late night last night, by the way,
we were sold a bill of goods by.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
The guys doing the broadcast, Buck and Aikman.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
They said, you'd have the stash taken care of this morning,
and it's.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
That was not on the top of my list. It
was just trying to get down here this so you're
going to keep it no going today.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
I like the cleats. Yeah, pretty cool, cool, pretty.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
Cool and certainly, uh that's eleven wins and a uh.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
A good effort here at home. And that's a team.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
It's so interesting WIGGI talks all about has been talking
a lot this season more than any other about parody
in the league. And that's a you look at that
Giants team they beat, the Eagles, beat the Chargers. It's uh,
that's that's a football team that could have could have
bothered you.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
Well, I think they all can you know, and if
you don't show up ready to go, and you don't
do the things that that are important to winning, and
you don't play complimentary, and you take a nap, you lose.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
But I thought it was cool just talking about.
Speaker 3 (01:26):
My shoes and the player's shoes and just the causes
that they have and seeing you know, Drake and and
the rest of our team and Gonzo, you know, things
that they hold deer to them. I think is important.
So I'm glad that they were able to do that
on a national stage.
Speaker 4 (01:45):
Now I need you to give me the lottery numbers,
because I think it was last week you said Jones
is gonna pop punt return and he actually did it.
What did you see on that play that ultimately led
to him being able to score?
Speaker 3 (01:58):
You got to get him started, and to do that,
you got to block the guys on the edges.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
I thought our guys did that.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
I thought Charles Woods, I thought Myles Battle uh got
you know, did their job. Dell got them started, and
then you're gonna need some some blocks, some legal blocks
down down there to to spring them for a touchdown.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
And I thought guys were doing that.
Speaker 3 (02:16):
And yeah, we do that on Friday, and it's not
that pace, but it's like, okay, he catches.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
He catches the last one, and you know, the show team's.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
Running down on the punt and everybody's kind of finishing
and he kind of weaves in and out and goes
and scores. And I'm standing over there, I'm like, well,
looks just like it did on Friday. I said, that's
that's pretty good or whatever Saturday was for.
Speaker 5 (02:38):
So, the last couple of weeks, we've asked you about
the defense starting off slow and how do you fix that?
Last night they were firing on all cylinders. They looked
so fired up. Did anything change in practice this week
that got them there or it just was working for them.
Speaker 3 (02:52):
No, I just appreciate how they came out and they
were aggressive. It'd been a while since we'd played, and
it just was a long week, and and we talked
about attacking and aggressive and just saying, hey, if they're
going to run a quarterback or if they're going to
run a gadget play, it's it's hard to scheme these
gadget plays up and sometimes the the best answer is
(03:12):
is violence and and and some of those guys chose that,
and that was good to see.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
Missing obviously missing a couple of guys on the line
last night, but you get next next, next man up
from low.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
Yeah, that's this league is about that and making sure
that guys get in there. And you know, Ben played
a lot last week, Verderian played most of the you know,
second half, and so they had a week of work.
I thought it was a good plan that the players
believed in and and ultimately they went out and performed,
and I think we're excited about playing.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
I heard a suggestion yesterday somebody, uh insider, that you
guys wanted to make sure Will Campbell didn't rush himself back,
hence putting them on.
Speaker 3 (03:54):
Yeah, I don't, I mean it was I mean, I'm
gonna assume that every player wants to get back as
fast as possible. So there's a lot of reports on
everything that we do, not going to say which ones
are close to accurate or which ones aren't. But eventually,
you know, I mean, I'm going to make the decisions
on how the players play, are they not? And I
(04:16):
go through the same thing. Can they protect themselves, can
they make it worse? And then they can do their
job up to what we expect of them and what
they expected themselves, and so we felt like the best
thing was, you know, put Will on ir and he's
working hard to come back, just like everybody else.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
That wasn't available in the football game.
Speaker 6 (04:35):
A lot of online and post game pontificating saying that
the Patriots were head hunting Jackson Dart. The New York
media is all up in arms that the chippiness of
the Patriots. What would you think? How would you describe
the defense's performance last night?
Speaker 2 (04:47):
I thought it was good. I thought it was excellent.
I thought that.
Speaker 3 (04:53):
I didn't see anything on the first view that would
tell me that. And again, this is both sides, and
this happens in this league. And if you're in bounds
and you're not sliding, you know, again, when Harold the
first sack, when Harold got him, I said, hey, gotta
be careful.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
You know.
Speaker 3 (05:08):
I mean, I don't think he was going for his
head and he just slid, you know, I mean, Harold's
coming at him and he slid. I said, just got
to be careful like this. We know when the quarterback slides,
they're protecting him and we have to go in, you know,
make sure that that he's down and giving himself up.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
But We're not hitting him in the head or neck.
Speaker 3 (05:25):
We coach that all the time. We know that that's
what happens. You know, the quarterbacks are going to slide late,
they're going to be protected. We can say anything we
want about it. We just have to understand what they're
calling and what we have to do. But there's a
football guy player running down the sidelines, we're going to
have to We're going to have to hit him. And
let's just go through this every week on a Friday
(05:47):
tape and we put it on there. It's whatever quarterback
of a week. It happens twice a week. They're over
there prancing around and you're.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
Gonna get hit.
Speaker 3 (05:56):
And if we show that to Drake and our defenders
are being coached the same way. When I say we
better not get cued over there by the sidelines, because
this is legal, I turn around and tell the defense
if this is happening, you know, we need to try
to knock out of them as legally as possible.
Speaker 4 (06:14):
Mike, we as fans, we always have expectations prior to
the season, during the season, throughout the season.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
I'm glad that they change. They change, And so I
was going to ask you this.
Speaker 4 (06:25):
As a coach, do you do you take that same approach, like,
does your expectations change throughout the season?
Speaker 2 (06:34):
No, I mean I think that that's probably a good question.
I don't.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
And our expectations are trying to figure out what we
need to do to improve, what we need to do
to give ourselves a chance to win football game, and
try to do it as consistently as possible each and
every week. Try not to get caught up too much
in things that are interesting. We focus on things that
are important and what we need to do the next
week and what the next next task is.
Speaker 5 (07:00):
You brought up Harold, but then also Christian Ellis it
felt like it was a statement game for physicality for
you guys. It looked like for the naive I like
myself watching the game, that it was the most physical
you guys looked this season. Did it feel that way
for you and was it a statement to the rest
of the league of how physical you guys?
Speaker 2 (07:20):
Can't we all need to make a statement to anybody
in the league.
Speaker 3 (07:22):
We just need to focus on ourselves and try to
continue to improve and always talk about earning the respect
of the guy next to you and the guy across
from you. That's all that we're trying to do. We
take a lot of pride in the way we cover kicks.
Said that when they were the top five kickoff returning it,
we were number six in the league.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
And kickoff coverage.
Speaker 3 (07:42):
I expect us to be top five in the league
and kickoff coverage by the time the season ends. And
so that was a challenge for us. We have to
go down there and send a message.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
Courtney.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
I wouldn't say your eyes are naive. You go, you
go to a lot of football games. I think we
could actually if you're if you're able to take a
look at the screen. Court and he was at a
game on Sunday.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
Where'd you go? She was down in three Rivers. Yeah,
I don't even know the three Rivers, the names of them.
Speaker 5 (08:12):
No.
Speaker 3 (08:13):
Wow, that's a lot of Steeler gear for somebody that
the River Stadium. Actually we a lot.
Speaker 2 (08:19):
Almost notice that there's a lot of that. The guy meant, yes, yeah,
he's got he's got the he's got the champions hat
on there.
Speaker 5 (08:29):
Well, honestly, if you want to feel myself, I'm on
a I'm on a tour and so next week I
think I'm headed to the Ohio State and then maybe
after Walsh Jesuit in Ohio.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
State doesn't play.
Speaker 3 (08:42):
Yeah, maybe they did walk in the campus Welsh Jesuit
unfortunately lost in the state.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
Semi okay, some are some are calling it treason.
Speaker 1 (08:51):
Against the bill, traitorous activity against the bill.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
Do you have did you have a good time you
hang out? Yeah, big time.
Speaker 3 (08:59):
At least if you'd a fan like you know the Rivers,
the names of the Rivers at.
Speaker 2 (09:03):
The stadium sat on your favorite all time Steeler, probably
you thank you. That's a better answer. She's got a name, Frank,
you got it out of the way there. So your
husband's the fan.
Speaker 5 (09:22):
No, one of my best friends has a very strong connection.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
To the Steelers. So we go very strong, very strong.
And you want me to translate that air, I mean
I'm always.
Speaker 1 (09:33):
Repping the Patsy no matter what not Away, I would never,
I would never.
Speaker 2 (09:38):
Well, you guys make your great You guys had a
good time. We had a We had a great time.
Aaron Rodgers definitely doesn't have a wife.
Speaker 6 (09:44):
But other than that, Ohio State was mentioned. They were
talking to Brady this weekend on the Fox kickoff before
Ohio State, Michigan and he was reminiscing on how many
bets he lost to you with the Ohio State. What
was the best thing you got Brady to do as
part of those rivalry bets that.
Speaker 3 (10:02):
They wore my jersey for practice one days and then
it was whatever.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
He wanted to bet, he would we would bet.
Speaker 3 (10:09):
So those were good Christmases for the kids back in
the day to uh to.
Speaker 2 (10:14):
Make a wager. Yeah, I wore j.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
I know you don't like comparisons, But Curtis earlier this
morning during his lead said that this season season two
for a quarterback, Drake is better than Tom Brady was
season number two.
Speaker 2 (10:33):
Any any input from you on that?
Speaker 3 (10:35):
No, I mean it probably was a different It was
a different offense, and I would say, I mean there
were probably more screen passes, more you.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
Know, underneath throws to Troy Brown.
Speaker 3 (10:46):
I think it was just a different game back that
it was, you know, two thousand and one, and so
I don't think things that quite opened up like they
have now and with the different personnel groups and the
multiple receiver sets.
Speaker 6 (10:58):
But would you say that there is been more on
Drake's shoulders here through thirteen weeks than was on Brady's
in two thousand and one.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
The roster of the team.
Speaker 3 (11:08):
Yeah, I mean that's a long time ago. I don't
really have the best memory of that. I just think that,
you know, the circumstances around that season were very unique,
and Tom being able to step in there and you know,
lead the football team and us you know, five and
five after ten weeks and whatever that season was. I
(11:30):
think they're all different, but certainly that one was unique
and nothing that I've been.
Speaker 6 (11:34):
A part of.
Speaker 2 (11:35):
I don't want I don't want to pile on, but
have you ever seen a kicker miss the ball?
Speaker 5 (11:39):
Like?
Speaker 3 (11:41):
I mean, I've done that. How many times do you
smoke a drive down the middle of the feet the
fair way? We're talking about that, I'll make a six?
What we were saying, you take it?
Speaker 2 (11:50):
I mean, just saw just.
Speaker 3 (11:53):
Rolls right over the ball. I mean, just pipe a drive,
it's like, and just saw it comes over the ball.
I don't know, I didn't know if it was a fake.
I'm watching on the sidelines and what you know, and then.
Speaker 2 (12:08):
It's like the turf monster got him.
Speaker 3 (12:11):
Yeah, it's again, I don't envy that position at all
that you know, might just being able to go out
there and operate, and again, nobody cares about the long
snapper and the holder and kicker until the operation isn't good.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
So I don't envy that that position.
Speaker 4 (12:26):
You talk about, you know, just the way your offense
looks passing wise, just you know, just the evolution of
Drake May this season, you know, and some of those balls,
especially some of those deep balls that he's just like
dropping in a bucket. What have you seen from him
as far as his growth through this season When it
comes to his.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
Accuracy, we talk about it every week. Just the accuracy.
Speaker 3 (12:49):
To move off of the spot or transfer up into
the pocket, keep his eyes downfield, remain calm and not tense,
I think is pretty critical.
Speaker 2 (13:01):
I think that there's an.
Speaker 3 (13:02):
Athletic delivery and there's a looseness that you sometimes he's
and I think you do something you try to whether
you're playing baseball or try to hit a golf ball.
If we're just talking about and you're trying to choke
the life out of the grip and you're just squeezing,
it's so tight that it just there's nothing to it.
And I just think they're watching him throw sometimes that
(13:23):
there is just a there's a looseness and there's an
athleticism to him that allows.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
Him to be accurate and put the ball where he
wants to pretty ball.
Speaker 5 (13:33):
That's that we were talking about Steph Diggs at the
beginning of the show. He was talking to media after
about how the team is keeping each other accountable. He
also talked about the little back and forth with you
that was funny on the sideline when he was helping
the guy up that he knocked over.
Speaker 2 (13:47):
You said, go go go, he will help him up. Yeah, yeah, Yeah.
Speaker 5 (13:50):
It seems like we were served a narrative about him
that was very negative before he got here and it
was clearly wrong.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
How proud are you of him.
Speaker 5 (13:59):
That he's been able to prove himself not just on
the field, but also as the type of guy he
is to the rest of New England.
Speaker 3 (14:05):
Well, I think it just goes back to the recovery
and the rehab, how hard he worked and we didn't
want to put a timeline on anything, but.
Speaker 2 (14:15):
He was ready to go.
Speaker 3 (14:16):
He's practiced I would imagine every single day or every
day that we've you know, wanted him to practice by plan.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
He's remained durable.
Speaker 3 (14:26):
He has an energy and a spirit to him that
I think the guys gravitate towards.
Speaker 2 (14:31):
But I would say the biggest thing and the thing that.
Speaker 3 (14:33):
I'm most probably impressed by, is that he has the
ability to laugh at himself. I mean, this is nowadays.
It's hard sometimes guys, you know, I mean, he's in
the public eye and you don't have the ability to
laugh at yourself and you take yourself way too seriously.
And I appreciate that with everybody, and especially Steph, and
(14:56):
that you know, whether guys are getting on Drake or
they're getting on Steph. And I think that that's the
thing I'm probably most proud of. And if they make
fun of me, that I got to laugh at it.
And I think that's all part of it. It's all
part of being a team.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
You've talked about frustrations sometimes in the red zone. You
end up that first drive last night and uh walk
away with three not seven. I'm sure that's something that you're.
Speaker 2 (15:18):
Yeah, we'll look at it. We'll we'll continue to try to.
Speaker 3 (15:21):
Uh, you know, figure out how to how to get
it in there.
Speaker 2 (15:25):
Uh and.
Speaker 3 (15:26):
Make sure that we're doing everything that we can to
score touchdowns. And you know, it's just the precision and
the timing and everything has to be perfect. And you know,
if you if you run it, you got to score
with your guy, you got to move somebody into the
end zone. And so there's a lot of things that
go into it, and those aren't those aren't excuses.
Speaker 7 (15:43):
Those are that's the facts, and that those are things
that we have to continue to improve on.
Speaker 6 (15:49):
Big bye week plans, you guys going away for a bit.
What's the players looking like for time off this week?
Speaker 3 (15:53):
The time players will have plenty of time, The coaches
will have plenty of time. I think that everybody's earned
the right to to get away from here, but also
focus on things that we can do to improve and
places that we can put the players to help them,
whether that's the red zone or both phases, you know,
whatever it is that we're doing, figuring out if there's
(16:15):
things that we need to tinker with. I don't think
you can make wholesale changes at this time of the year,
but there's something that we can do that can help
us in some of those areas that maybe aren't up to.
Speaker 7 (16:27):
Par with some of the other ones that we'll have
to do and then get back and prepare for Buffalo
a huge division game here, don't how.
Speaker 4 (16:38):
Pleased were you with the balance of your special teams
offense and defenseless.
Speaker 3 (16:43):
I mean, it was fun to watch. It felt like
there was a flow, felt like they were feeding off
each other, there was an energy. We asked that the
special teams set the table for us in each phase
and you know, get the drive started if it's a return,
and we did that obviously on the pub return and
you know, being able to cover kicks and do those
(17:05):
things that are going to help the defense and create
some energy. And it certainly did. And anytime you can
turn the football over in that area. Albeit it led
to three points, but still critical three points.
Speaker 4 (17:17):
Do you like the fact that because I'm really I'm
enjoying the fact of what they did, especially for the
kickoff return rule where it actually has turned back that
play back into something, whether it's a big return or
in last night's game, a huge play on a kickoff coverage.
Speaker 3 (17:34):
I think that you have to be sound and you
can see that there's a lot of early down contributors
on those phases. So I mean, you just see that
we have starting players that are on that unit, and
you know, we have to continue to work and see
how we can improve a kickoff return. But I mean
it's the league refers to it as an action play,
(17:56):
and you know there's a lot of action on it.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
Want to get your opinion as a guy who coached
in college a little bit. We've been talking about Lane
Kiffin and just in general, good thing or a bad
thing when it comes to college. Do they need to
adjust the way the hiring process goes when you have
a guy leave a program like that where they're at
right now.
Speaker 2 (18:18):
I mean, here's what I would say.
Speaker 3 (18:19):
I would say that as close I don't The NFL
doesn't have everything figured out and it's not perfect, but
I would say that any chance that they could have
and mirror the rules that we have, whether that's on
the playing field, off the field, timeline, etc. I mean,
when you start paying players, it's professional football. And I
(18:43):
do think that the NFL has some really good ideas
and they've done it and they've worked through a lot
of these potholes and things that happen along the road,
and we should try to help them manage their game
the best that we can.
Speaker 6 (19:00):
Did it ever get close or theoretical in your mind?
The opportunity to return to college as a head coach,
maybe at Ohio State when you were fired from Tennessee
or was it always stay in the NFL.
Speaker 3 (19:11):
I mean I looked at every opportunity that was presented
to me, and that that opportunity wasn't presented to me.
So yeah, I would say that I would have looked
at anything that. I mean, when you get fired, you you.
Speaker 2 (19:29):
Beggars, can't choose.
Speaker 1 (19:31):
Well, thank god it didn't happen. We're glad you're here.
Courtney wants you to coach the Steelers. I mean, that's
a whole different, whole.
Speaker 2 (19:38):
Different are you from there? She's a New England girl?
It says it on her on her bio. I am
on Instagram.
Speaker 5 (19:47):
See me for supporting a friend.
Speaker 2 (19:49):
You know, I want the extra mile to Robert Morris.
You got into b C. Yeah, w tell them take
me at that. There's the hosband. That's actually that's cute.
(20:10):
I would thank you.
Speaker 5 (20:11):
I got one, Yeah, thank you.
Speaker 1 (20:15):
Listen.
Speaker 2 (20:16):
We'll let you like, let you get to work. Guys,
you're sitting in a suite two and three Rivers. That's
really nice.
Speaker 1 (20:21):
That yeah, wow, nice to have oil fans when you're
liking when the Steelers all right, coach, thanks appreciate it,
have a great, great week, and we'll we'll talk to
you again a couple of weeks
Popular Podcasts
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by Audiochuck Media Company.
The Brothers Ortiz
The Brothers Ortiz is the story of two brothers–both successful, but in very different ways. Gabe Ortiz becomes a third-highest ranking officer in all of Texas while his younger brother Larry climbs the ranks in Puro Tango Blast, a notorious Texas Prison gang. Gabe doesn’t know all the details of his brother’s nefarious dealings, and he’s made a point not to ask, to protect their relationship. But when Larry is murdered during a home invasion in a rented beach house, Gabe has no choice but to look into what happened that night. To solve Larry’s murder, Gabe, and the whole Ortiz family, must ask each other tough questions.