Bedard: Mike Vrabel's comments from the league meeting, and what they mean

PHOENIX — Mike Vrabel spoke with reporters about the state of the Patriots after free agency. Pretty straightforward, so I'm going to post the transcript and then get into our thoughts.

Free-agent class, and whether they are free not to draft for need. 

Well, I don't think you should ever draft for need. It's not a position that you ever want to be in. I love all our players. You know, certainly the free agents that we were able to acquire was a collaborative effort between the coaches and the personnel and myself, and being able to add guys that we believe in, that can help us, and then we'll continue to add guys, and that's kind of how this thing goes. But I do think that every year is different. There's change and coaching staff and the personnel and the players and like the guys that we were able to add, and we'll continue to try to strengthen the roster.

Does he like where the receiver room is now?

There's guys that ... we certainly, we targeted Romeo, you know, with the consistency that he's had and shown in his first four years in the NFL, and I think he's gotten better. I think he's improved each and every year. Certainly you mentioned Kayshon. I think Pop is a player that's going to really continue to grow and develop, and we have to find ways to get him the ball. Kyle ... really excited. Talked about him just improving his play strength, and that's something that he's tried to focus on here in the offseason. We know what his speed is and his release skills, and, you know the ability to, you know, we saw him go and track the ball down the field. So, you know, there's a lot of guys that we're excited about.

How do you replace Stefon Diggs' production?

I don't know how that gets divied. I mean, it's, it's literally about targets, and, you know, so when you get targeted, and again, the efficiency. We all appreciate what Stef did and being able to coach him, but you know what has to happen is the efficiency in which he was able to catch the ball was impressive, whether that strength, accuracy, ball location, or Stef's ability to catch it, that's something that we'll have to recreate. And I'm not worried about the catches and the overall production. I think we can recreate that. We just have to be very mindful that the efficiency in which we throw and catch it is important.

Bears getting Garrett Bradbury

They're getting somebody that loves football, loves his teammates, you know, he brought a, certainly, a leadership to us that we needed last year. There was a consistency, durability. That's what they're getting. You know, they're getting, they're getting a pro who's going to be prepared, he's going to make the calls, he's going to communicate. But Garrett also loves the process of football, you know, the off-season, the weekly preparation with his teammates and his coaches.

Replay and challenges 

They should let the coaches call their own fouls. You know, that's what they should do.

Players on social media after TreVeyon Henderson posted support for Jaden Ivey

I think there is a fine line. I want to tell you. I love TreVeyon. I love the person there. He cares deeply about our team. He cares deeply about his faith. He cares deeply about his family, his wife, the people in our building. And so want them to be able to express what they believe in their heart and in their mind, but also want to make sure that they're educated, and we want to be inclusive. Everything we want to do, want to provide an environment for people to, one, feel comfortable, but also to share their personal beliefs. And then also we represent the team, and then we represent the organization.

Follow up on the team 

I usually try to, I think that's something that we try to do, Nicole constantly, is, you know, it's like somebody asked me last year, how you gonna keep them off their phones? Like, like, look, yeah, keep you guys off your phones. There's 19 phones laying on the table. We just want to educate them to ... never going to tell them how to feel. Certainly want to make sure that they understand that their actions represent something more than just themselves. And so I do think there's a fine line. we're always talking about those kinds of things. We're trying to educate them, no different than myself or you guys or my kids.

Alijah Vera-Tucker, Gilliam, Hill ... is a focus on running the ball?

Well, I felt like we, I just want to be more consistent. We the Patriots, want to be more consistent running the football. This isn't like we're going to run it every single play. It's just that I felt like there were too many times where we wanted to run it and it was just inefficient. Now we popped some which were great. We had some explosives. And so then when you go back there and you average it all out, it's like, okay, but I would, I want to be able to do it more consistently to allow for then, you know, some of the run actions in the passing game to really come alive. And just to start to help us, it's a tough league. If you have to sit there and drop back and throw the football as much as we did in the last game the season.

Vera-Tucker's injuries and whether Ben Brown helps alleviate that concern

I don't know if those two things necessarily, you know, go hand in hand. I love Ben Brown. I love the teammate that he is. I love his ability to be versatile and play center, play guard and be prepared, and every week prepare as a starter. I love that about Ben. He's a great teammate, you know. And then Alijah was just a player that we felt like had a skill set and talent, you know, understand the injuries, and so just felt like we wanted to add his talent to the roster. 

Will Campbell benefit from playing next to AVT? 

I mean, I think just, you know, guy that's been out there, a guy that's been, you know, a first round pick. He's, by all accounts, Alijah is a good teammate. Never coached him, but, you know, excited to add him, you know, to the O line. Will as a young player, will continue to develop, continue to improve, and we're excited to keep working with him

Trade for AJ Brown still on the table?

We've talked about this since last January. We're gonna try to do everything we can to strengthen our roster, through the draft, through free agency, multiple ways of player acquisition, so anything that we can continue to do to strengthen the roster, we're going to try to do.

Have cap space for big moves?