Patriots Coach Mike Vrabel Lets His Running Backs Know: He's Not Happy

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Patriots Coach Mike Vrabel Lets His Running Backs Know: He's Not Happy

Hector Longo · Athlon Sports

Mon, Oct 19, 2026 ·

2 min read

Impressive performance by the kid

Kiner, No. 3 on the depth chart, stepped up big time.

"It feels great. To be in that position in the game, to see the smiles on my teammates' faces and my coaches' faces, that they can trust me," said Kiner. "It felt great, all the hard work we have been putting in as a team and personally, it just feels great."

New England Patriots running back TreVeyon Henderson (32)Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

Postgame, Vrabel noted it was a matter of riding the hot hand.

"Would you have taken him out?" Vrabel queried when asked why he stuck with Kiner, who had a big fumble against the Raiders, at such a key time.

Words meant for top pair

With each response, the coach was letting Stevenson (2.6 yards a carry Sunday) and Henderson (third-quarter lost fumble) that nothing is guaranteed in the NFL. Vrabel called the turnovers Sunday, "embarrassing" on his Monday morning radio appearance with WEEI-FM's Greg Hill Show, so you know Henderson's giveaway got under his skin.

Monday, Vrabel was more effusive in his praise of Kiner.

"I would tell you offensively, he was running and being very decisive. When you talk about that five-minute offense, not being a great runner, but being decisive in those moments, right?" Vrabel said. "To be able to just hit it, and knowing that they're going to have bodies in every gap … that was something that I think we wanted to see, and when we saw that, we kept with him."

Stepping up his game

Kiner, who has 12 carries total as a rookie in Arizona, is averaging 4.5 yards per rush on his 31 tries this year.

Stevenson and Henderson can consider themselves warned.

This story was originally published by Athlon on Oct 19, 2026, where it first appeared in the NFL section. Add Athlon as a Preferred Source by clicking here.