After Wednesday's walkthrough practice session at Gillette Stadium -- or do we have to call it Boston Stadium this week? -- professional Patriots writer Michael Garoppolo Giardi stated that "if anyone drops stats from this practice, you should immediately question their sanity."
While that message was written specifically for the half-speed session that took place in the middle of the three-day mandatory minicamp, it also could apply to most on-field work at this time of year. While OTAs and minicamp are tremendously valuable and important stretches of work for the players and the coaches on the team, the on-field "results" and "stats" should never carry much, if any, weight. Outside of who's participating, who's hurt, who's holding out or holding in, fans and media don't really need to hyperfixate on the ins and outs of every "down" played or drill performed.
Put more simply: This time of year is for them, not us. Capisce?
Yet with all of the Patriots (minus Gabe Jacas) at work in Foxboro this week, there were still plenty of observations to be made. And the biggest one of all, without question, could be seen in the head coach.
Mike Vrabel is back to being Mike Vrabel.
That may seem like something you should have expected, perhaps, but after an offseason filled with a tabloid scandal, some pensive press conferences, a missed day of work during the NFL Draft, and the unknown anxiety regarding what might drop next, the return of this version of Vrabel was no guarantee.
Vrabel, who drew some criticism for his unannounced press conference earlier in the offseason, stood front and center for as long as the media wanted for all three days of this minicamp. He answered questions for more than 13 minutes on Tuesday, again for more than 13 minutes on Wednesday, and then for a whopping 17-plus minutes on Thursday.
He wasn't shy. Wasn't awkward. He didn't deflect or dodge questions about Christian Gonzalez's situation, he showed some level of frustration after taking several questions on Jacas' lack of contract and absence, and he was abrasive when he felt like being abrasive, most notably in this exchange with Mike Reiss on Thursday.
Reiss: Mike, this might be digging into something that’s not there, but [Bradyn] Swinson's leading the stretch line yesterday ...
Vrabel: That's leading, I mean. Yeah. I would say that’s reading into whatever. I mean, he’s going to be a team captain, Mike? I'm sorry. I don't want to cut you off. What's your question about that?
Reiss: How does that happen? Does he just go up there?
Vrabel: I don’t know. Have you ever seen dogs go at the one bowl and there's, you know what I mean, four or five dogs, like whoever gets there first? I mean, I don’t really know. There's things that I try to concern myself with and things that I don't, and who's standing out front when we are doing the toe touches is not one of them. It kind of always just works itself out.
As is the case when Vrabel is operating at Full Vrabel, it wasn't fully clear if he was completely irate with the line of questioning or if he was absolutely delighted to be messing around with a reporter he likes. It may have been one of the sillier moments of his 45 minutes with the media this week, but it was in line with what we've grown familiar with, dating back to his playing days in the early 2000s.
The ultimate ball buster is back busting balls.
Again, that may not be headline news, but there were questions -- some from legitimate sources, some not so much -- as to whether the Patriots would be getting their head coach back after he earned Coach of the Year honors and led the team to a Super Bowl in his debut season in New England.
For his dalliances with reporter Dianna Russini, some people opined that Vrabel should be fired. That was extreme.
Others felt the coach might step away of his own accord, so as not to create the dreaded D-word --DISTRACTION! -- for his team. Regardless of whether that suggestion was for a year away from the team or a permanent resignation, it was still a bit strong.
Still, those who witnessed a sheepish Vrabel at the podium in April discussing his "difficult conversations" one day and then his inability to live up to his own personal set of standards two days later saw a man who barely resembled the one who guided the Patriots to one of the more remarkable turnarounds in recent NFL history just a few months earlier.
And whether you kept your nose buried in the New York Post all spring or disregarded the story as meaningless tabloid fodder, you have to admit that there were some real concerns about where that situation might go. And with a new story dropping seemingly every week, there was no way of knowing for sure.
To be fair, we still don't know what the future holds exactly with regard to that situation. But the present version of Vrabel indicates that most if not all of the concerns about whether or not Vrabel would be able to perform his job at the same level he did a year ago can be put to bed. The guy running the show this week in Foxboro was very much the same person we've come to know.
That means everybody working in Foxboro -- from the players, to the media, to most likely the janitorial and cafeteria employees -- will have to keep their head on a swivel. And it likely means that the Patriots won't have to worry about how fit for work Vrabel will be when the quest to get back to the Super Bowl begins in earnest this summer.