FOXBOROUGH - While the Patriots will be away from the Gillette Stadium until the start of training camp on July 23, Mike Vrabel doesn't necessarily consider the 5-week break as 'downtime' for the players.
That, in a nutshell, will be the message he conveys to the team Wednesday before they leave.
"It's probably the five most important weeks of the offseason as far as I'm concerned, just in my history as a player and a coach," Vrabel said during his media availability Tuesday. "It's critical that they come back in shape, that they're ready to go for training camp, that we're prepared as coaches with the schedule, the installation and what we're doing.
"The players have to hold up their end of the bargain to prepare for training camp."
So it won't all be fun in the sun. Asked if the players understand the importance of keeping with the program, Vrabel said they will after he addresses them Wednesday.
"The ones that have been successful and played in this league – I'm not going to speak for 90 guys that they know how important it is," Vrabel said. "I think they're focused on today, and we'll cover that tomorrow."
Naturally, veteran players get the significance. Time will tell how the younger players respond. But Vrabel said everyone will have a plan.
"Where they're at in their career is obviously significant, but just how Morgan (Moses) prepares and how a younger player would prepare is going to be different. But both are going to have to be ready to go, just using those two different age groups at the same position.
"So, we always tell them that everybody will have a plan. This is more for when we get to training camp and you'll say, 'Well, why is so-and-so doing this or that?' Everybody's going to have a plan. It'll be different with as many players as we have. My job is to make sure that everybody's working regardless of what plan that they're on.
"There will be players that just do individual. There will be players that just do team. There will be players that are off on the side conditioning, or whatever that may be. That's going to change daily throughout training camp."
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