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What Mike Vrabel told Patriots players in locker room after losing Super Bowl
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- What Mike Vrabel told Patriots players in locker room after losing Super Bowl
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — It happens every year at the Super Bowl.
While one coach is doused in Gatorade and reveling in confetti falling from the sky, another is back in his locker room, consoling a team that just lost the biggest game of the season.
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On Sunday at Levi’s Stadium, it was Mike Vrabel left to lift his team after a disheartening defeat.
New England could never find any rhythm in a 29-13 Super Bowl 60 loss to the Seahawks. Drake Maye was sacked six times and had three turnovers, while the team summoned Bryce Baringer to punt eight times.
At a podium in Santa Clara minutes after the defeat, Vrabel shared what his message to the players was after losing the Super Bowl.
“That I’m proud of everything they did,” Vrabel said. “I’m disappointed, just like they are. I reminded them that we’re 307 days into what hopefully is a long, successful relationship and program. It’s OK to be disappointed. We have to be disappointed and upset together. Like I always do, I tell them that I’m appreciative of them. I’m thankful. I’m grateful that I get to coach them.
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“Part of our identity is not being a frontrunner. Every year somebody is going to lose this game. We have to remember what it feels like and make sure that it’s not repeated.”
The Patriots weren’t expected to win the AFC East in Vrabel’s first season, let alone the entire conference, and the coach took some solace in his team’s journey to Santa Clara.
“Unbelievably rewarding,” Vrabel said. “I can’t tell these players enough how proud I am of them. And again, we’re disappointed, not discouraged.
“We have to be disappointed. We have to be upset. We have to be those things together. We can’t be divided,” Vrabel said. “We can’t be frontrunners. We can’t be a good teammate and can’t care about the team and do the right things only when you win. Sometimes in this game of professional football you lose and you still have to be able to do those things. Hopefully they will.”
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Vrabel will certainly dwell on the Super Bowl loss, but also wanted to use it as a teaching moment for his players and their families.
“I’m sure I’ll think about it longer than I would have if we’d have won,” Vrabel said. “But I told the players there’s a lot of people who made a lot of sacrifices for us to be here. Every year, unfortunately, someone loses this game and we can’t take it out on the people that love us the most. I tried to tell them they’ve gotta find a place to get with those people tonight and thank them and hug them. Because they’ll be the ones that are there when you lose to the Steelers and you lose to the Bills and lose to the Raiders and you lose the Super Bowl. They’re going to be the ones that love you no matter what.”
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