Karen Guregian: Let's see if Mike Vrabel can pull another rabbit out of the hat

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Karen Guregian: Let's see if Mike Vrabel can pull another rabbit out of the hat

Karen Guregian · MassLive

Tue, Dec 16, 2025 ·

4 min read

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FOXBOROUGH - His team blew a 21-point lead in a possible AFC East clinching game against Buffalo.

His defense could not make a stop, with the Bills ripping off five straight touchdown drives from the second quarter on.

His special teams unit constantly surrendered good field position on kick offs, and committed costly penalties on returns.

His offense?

Drake Maye & Co. fell silent in the second half.

After ripping off 10 straight wins, the Patriots second half collapse against Buffalo was troubling to say the least.

So where does Mike Vrabel go from here after his team blew a chance to clinch a playoff berth by winning the division?

Can the Patriots coach pull off another turnaround, after molding a four-win team into a contender? Or has he used up all of his motivational tricks and coaching magic?

While it's only one game, rebounding from what happened against the Bills won't be easy. It's Vrabel's next important mission.

As one part coach, one part motivator, one part overseer of the operation, and one part fixer of all that's broke, Vrabel will need to use all of his leadership skills to right the ship over the final three regular season games, starting Sunday in Baltimore .

We've already gotten a hint of Vrabel's approach from his post-game comments, as well as what he told the media Monday after watching the film, and digesting the 34-31 loss once again.

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He hasn't gone the route of ripping players publicly - although he did cite Rhamondre Stevenson for making a "bad decision" by engaging with Matt Milano on the sideline and getting flagged in the third quarter for unnecessary roughness.

He told the players the same thing he would after a win.

They did some good, as well as some bad. They need to take ownership of the mistakes, and make the necessary corrections.

"I'm hoping we don't walk around with our heads down," Vrabel said during his Monday appearance on WEEI. "We have to get back to work, and it sucks to lose. It sucks to lose with an opportunity to win the division, and it didn't happen.

"That's what you have to learn from. You can work really hard for stuff, and you can want stuff really bad, and sometimes you don't get it. And you have to be able to come back, compete, pick up the pieces and put them back together."

Several players echoed his message on Monday, which is always a good sign. So Operation Pick up the Pieces is well underway.

"I think Coach summed it up well entering the locker room. I heard him say, 'Welcome to the NFL, boys,'' center Garrett Bradbury said. "This is the NFL. It's December football. It was two good football teams going at it. They made more plays than we did."

The most important point delivered by the head coach?

"The sky's not falling," Bradbury said. "We didn't win this week. We have another opportunity next week. So we'll put it to bed today, and focus on next week."

Vrabel could harp on all of the breakdowns, penalties, missed tackles, etc. He could show a level of disappointment with the players that he hasn't previously with the media.

But he knows what makes all of them tick. He's as good of a button pusher as there is in the coaching ranks. He knows what drove the Patriots to 10 straight wins. So there's no need to deliver any crazy sermons or go all Jack Nicholson (You can't handle the truth!") on them at this stage.

"I've tried to stay consistent in my messaging and what we'll do," Vrabel said. "And we'll take a look at all the good stuff, and we'll have to fix the stuff that gets us beat, and we'll have to talk to these guys about making great in-game decisions and all the details and the techniques and the things that cost us, and try to get back and get healthy and get back on the road and win a game."

Vrabel made mention that it had being 83 days since the team last lost. That was a reminder for everyone - not just the players - to avoid getting bent out of shape over one loss.

And while there was a bit of mixed messaging about the officiating in the game, with Vrabel calling out the refs on the radio in the morning, he self-corrected before the day was over.

"Yeah, there's nothing that we can do. They see what they see. They call it the best that they can. I'm confident in that," Vrabel said of the officials. We have to know what it is that they're looking for to call penalties. They have mechanics that they're looking for, we have to understand that and we have to play to that. No more, no less. Officiating or the penalties weren't the reason that we lost the game."

Vrabel knows excuse-making and whining aren't going to fix the problems. It's hard work, and showing them the way.

There's also a fine line trying to have the players recognize and repair their short-comings, while maintaining their confidence to go out and win games.

"Coach Vrabel said after the game, if we don't learn anything from it, then it is a loss," Bradbury said. "But I think there are some things we can learn from it. If we can be a little bit better in practice, a little bit better next Sunday, then I think we will have learned from it."

The Ravens, who are a bubble team with respect to the playoffs, won't make it easy on Sunday. The Patriots have to be ready to meet that challenge, and, unlike the Bills game, maintain their intensity for the full 60 minutes.

"We're 11-3," Vrabel said, "and we're going to work our asses off to be 12-3."

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