Patriots’ Mike Vrabel Fires Subtle Shot While Praising Josh McDaniels

The Patriots enter a new era with Mike Vrabel and aren’t afraid to acknowledge what must be done.

Vrabel seemed to call out certain players in his introductory news conference, and while a familiar face like Josh McDaniels is back in New England, it’s clear the team is being built in the head coach’s vision.

Despite speculated belief, Vrabel reportedly did pick McDaniels to be his offensive coordinator. Vrabel was excited about what McDaniels could bring and how much he could develop Drake Maye.

“We’re gonna want to do things that maybe they didn’t do with the previous quarterbacks here. That was all part of the interview process of what the vision is, things that you’ve liked from your history, things that you’d like to add, and where we could enhance some of that stuff,” Vrabel told Evan Lazar of Patriots.com at the Senior Bowl.

It didn’t take long for Patriots fans to notice the “didn’t do with the previous quarterbacks” line from Vrabel. Alex Van Pelt and Jerod Mayo hesitated to throw designed quarterback runs in the playbook until the final weeks of the season. It seemed like the previous regime wasn’t interested in utilizing a key part of Maye’s skillset.

Whether he intended to or not, Vrabel threw a shot at his predecessors, which fans won’t be too hurt about given their optimism for a new era of Patriots football.