The New England Patriots attention-grabber at Gillette Stadium in Saturday night’s preseason game with the Eagles was not in uniform.
In fact, he’s not even a player. It is head coach Mike Vrabel.
Busy night for the boss
Before the game, during, and after, it was Vrabel’s actions and words that will most notably affect the Patriots when the season kicks off on Sept. 9 at Seattle.
For the second straight week at home, the coach chose to sit nearly every Patriot who matters.
Shedding light on the plan
The statement was clear, as clear as his plan is. He will likely play the starters in Thursday’s preseason finale at Cleveland, maybe taking them three quarters deep, depending on the results over the first 30 minutes.
It makes sense. Get them some “real” snaps before the 13-day dormant period heading into the opener.
Vrabel was a bit peeved postgame when asked about his choice to rest the first-stringers.
(Photo by Dustin Bradford/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Poignant choice of words
“I don’t think we have a very deep team,” Vrabel said.
“So I think we have to make sure that we’re preparing our football team and that we’re doing everything that we can to keep our best players available. And if that means playing Thursday as part of preparation, that’s what we’ll do.
“I have not made that decision yet, but I would say that that is something that I am confident in with where we are set up currently.”
Defense let him down
On the field in the first half, Vrabel called the extremely rare, mid-drive, first-half timeout to let his defense have it.
He was demonstrative and direct — the kind of Mike Vrabel New England fans remember from his playing days in the early 2000s.
“I saw dog-shit defense, and I wanted to talk to them,” the coach said. “And I figured that if I didn’t call a timeout, that I wouldn’t be able to get what I wanted to say off my chest.”
Angry Vrabel is good Vrabel
Vrabel was a tad ornery on Saturday night in words and actions. Perhaps the lack of progress in the Christian Gonzalez contract negotiations is weighing on him.
Maybe he just wanted to let his team know that even though the preseason is nearly done, there is a ton of work yet to be done.
Either way, the path is set from now until the opener. Vrabel has that one well in hand.
