FOXBOROUGH – Mike Vrabel arrived in January with the hope and promise of making things better. He vowed to galvanize the football team, as well as the fan base.
It was one of the missions the Patriots coach laid out during his introductory press conference. It was part of the Vrabel hype train that quickly energized anyone who had watched a perennial contender and NFL powerhouse self-destruct after the departure of Tom Brady.
With the passing of every week, more of Vrabel’s vision became clear.
He preached the importance of playing mistake-free football, zeroing in on the fundamentals and the little things that win games.
He hoped that in short order, his team would be good enough to take advantage of bad football. He stressed discipline and emphasized being the better team in the second half of games.
He strived for consistency.
After three games, Vrabel’s team hasn’t come close to living up to any of those goals. They’ve flunked most if not all of Vrabel’s bullet points.
They are mistake-riddled and penalty-prone. They can’t tackle and can’t stop turning the ball over.
Thus far, they’ve majored in bad football.
Next up is Carolina, another 1-2 team.
This is a big game for the Patriots. And an even bigger one for Vrabel.
Lose to Carolina, and the cries that Vrabel is no better than Jerod Mayo will get louder.
Lose, and Vrabel’s team will start 0-3 at home.
How’s that different from what’s happened the past three years?
While there have been some areas of improvement and growth, namely with second-year quarterback Drake Maye, the offensive line and defensive front, too many issues remain.
Patriots Hall of Famer Rodney Harrison has watched the games. He’s cringed seeing all of the unforced errors, something that wasn’t a hallmark of the teams he played on. He also understands Vrabel’s plight.
“As a coach, you’re trying to find that balance of trying to be patient with your players, and having them learn what your expectations are,” Harrison said. “It’s clear if the Patriots don’t make those knucklehead mistakes they’ve been making, with the fumbles, penalties, and things like that, they win more games.
“I think that’s gotta be his message,” the NBC sports commentator said. “He’s got to continue to harp on that, and emphasize that.”
Five-turnover games (four via fumble) certainly can’t be the norm.
Prior to his Hall of Fame induction ceremony last Saturday, Julian Edelman stressed that it’s going to be “a long process” to get the Patriots back near the top of the NFL’s upper echelon. He reminded everyone “Rome wasn’t built overnight.”
True. But fellow Hall inductee Bill Parcells also had a famous saying that applies.
“You are what your record says you are.”
If the Patriots can’t beat the Panthers, they would have a 1-3 record with Buffalo on deck and another loss all but assured.
Of course, it’s important to note that the year Vrabel took his Tennessee Titans to the AFC Championship game they started out 1-2. Then it was 2-4 before Vrabel’s team won six of the next seven games.
Former Patriot Logan Ryan, now an NFL analyst for CBS Sports, played for Vrabel on that 2019 team that beat Tom Brady & Co. at Gillette in the wild card round and was a win away from the Super Bowl.
Speaking with the former Patriots cornerback Thursday, he didn’t seem to be in panic mode for Vrabel or the Patriots. He preached patience.
“When you mix in a bunch of new players from free agency, a draft class, and a new regime, it’s going to take time,” Ryan said. “Everyone wants the quick turnaround. But this stuff takes time.
“Mike can coach. He really knows how to coach, especially down the stretch. You don’t want to drop too many games early, but it’s more important how you build throughout the year. The start of the year doesn’t always dictate how the year goes.”
From his experience, Ryan believes the Patriots will get to a place where they are no longer beating themselves, and winning the games they should win.
Carolina would be a good place to start. But ultimately, at this stage, it’s more about how they’re playing, as opposed to the record.
If the performance-level was higher, the losses wouldn’t be lumped in as the same old, same old mess. But losing and looking fundamentally challenged – or as Harrison put it, making ‘knucklehead mistakes’ – is another thing, especially considering who’s at the helm.
This isn’t what anyone was expecting from the Vrabel regime.
“Those mistakes will go down. If they don’t go down, it would be concerning,” Ryan said. “But knowing the coach he was, I definitely think he’s on top of that more than some other coaches. I mean, it’s kind of shocking. But you’ve got to start somewhere I guess.”