Did Mike Vrabel Take Shot At These Patriots With This Stone-Cold Line?
Mike Vrabel clearly saw it from the outside.
The newly-named Patriots head coach watched as dysfunction destroyed a franchise previously viewed as the most buttoned-up in the league.
Vrabel likely heard about when Patriots wide receiver Kayshon Boutte called out offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt, demanding the ball like Boutte had a top-tier resume. Vrabel surely heard about Patriots linebacker Jahlani Tavai expressing his displeasure with the team’s fan base, telling New England supporters to “know their place.”
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Vrabel sent a message during his introductory press conference at Gillette Stadium on Monday, and it felt as if he was talking to Boutte and Tavai.
“We’re going to remove entitlement from our football team,” Vrabel said.
Vrabel wouldn’t need to remove it if it didn’t exist, of course.
Those weren’t the only two players to come under fire for their in-season comments or actions.
Ja’Lynn Polk expressed how he had the best hands in the NFL before he finished with 12 catches for 87 yards this season. Jerod Mayo, who was replaced by Vrabel, had more foot-in-mouth instances than anyone. The first-year head coach seemingly called out Van Pelt in Arizona for his play-calling. Mayo also bizarrely referenced Bill Belichick’s heroics in Super Bowl XLIX when defending why the Patriots didn’t use a timeout against the Indianapolis Colts.
All told, examples of entitlement surfaced time and time again during a disastrous 2024 campaign in Foxboro, Mass. Vrabel saw it, and called it out the first opportunity he had.