FOXBOROUGH - In late February, while meeting with us at the Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, Mike Vrabel was asked if he viewed the situation he inherited with the Patriots as a long-term rebuild. He said, in part, "Our expectations aren't going to change. It's going to be to win the division. It's going to be the host home playoff games, and it's going to be to compete for championships. So we're never going to put a time timetable or any sort of prediction on when that may happen, but it has to happen..."
Flash forward, not even eight months later, and his Patriots are sitting atop the AFC East, meaning the conversation around this football team has changed. However, to Vrabel, the goal today remains the same as it's always been, regardless of their success.
"That didn't take long," he joked when asked if it was affirming to be in this position through six weeks. "Well, they're not going to cancel the rest of the season, and that's not really our focus right now, but I would say that we've put ourselves in a position to play meaningful games - not that they aren't all meaningful - but certainly focusing on this one on the road, our last one of three here.
"I appreciate us not looking too far ahead. They just attacked Buffalo, and they figured out what we needed to do against the Saints. And then we got back and got things cleaned up and tried to get some rest. And now focusing on Tennessee and the challenge that that presents. And seeing if we can't continue to enhance the things that we do well and improve the things that we're not doing well, and then eliminate the stuff that could or will or has gotten us beat."
This game on Sunday has extra buzz with Vrabel returning to Tennessee as a head coach for the first time since that franchise fired him at the end of the 2023-24 season. There were more media at his press conference on Wednesday than at any point during this season (if they continue winning, the Patriots are going to need a bigger room), and even before that, the head coach conducted a video conference call with members of the Titans media. That used to be the norm in NFL circles, but teams did away with that years ago. But for this week, exceptions were made - at least for this part of the equation. There won't be any exceptions made for game prep or practice, and internally, I'm told Vrabel is handling this week like it was any other - even if the players privately acknowledge it's not. Take it from Stefon Diggs, who just went through this experience two Sundays ago in Buffalo.
"They're gonna play hard," Diggs said when asked about the number of ex-Titans going back to face their former team. "When you see your old guys, or you see coaches that you once played for, and you got a lot of love and respect for 'em, of course, but you want to beat them, you know?"
"We're not trying to win one for the Gipper here," deadpanned Vrabel.
Besides, even though Tennessee is the very definition of dumpster fire in the Urban Dictionary, that organization just fired its head coach, Brian Callahan, on Tuesday, and replaced him with offensive assistant Mike McCoy. McCoy not only hasn't been a head coach since getting fired by San Diego in 2016, but was out of football (by choice) from 2019 until this year.
"We'll have to be prepared for everything," admitted Vrabel, who had some of his coaching staff dive deep into the archives to get a better feel for McCoy. "There's no way to know. You can watch the tape and understand some of the players and the play style, but however they call the game, they'll call the game."
Lastly, one of Vrabel's messages to the team this week was, 'Don't get caught up in the changing narratives around you.' Being 4-2 surely beats the alternative - the Pats have already matched their win totals in each of the last two years - but being in first-place on October 15th isn't something to get caught up in.
"Hell nah," Diggs said. "Biggest thing is 'Don't drink the Kool-Aid.' Obviously, they're going to say a lot of good things about you, it's the second quarter of the season - we break it up into quarters - and don't buy into that. If you get distracted by how good they say you are, you get to doing different things and not going through the process you were before. We're not that kind of team."