After Sunday night’s brutal loss to the Seattle Seahawks, Mike Vrabel took a big picture approach to the New England Patriots’ brutal Super Bowl defeat.
“I’m proud of everything that they did. I’m disappointed, just like they are,” he said. “I reminded them that we’re 307 days into what hopefully is a long, successful relationship and program. And it’s OK to be disappointed. We have to be disappointed and upset together.
“And like I always do, I tell them I’m appreciative of them. I’m thankful. I’m grateful that I get to coach them. And we don’t want to be part of our identity as not being a front-runner. And so again, just like every year, somebody’s going to lose this game. And we have to remember what it feels like and make sure that it’s not repeated.”
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While he had a good attitude in reflecting on the season, Vrabel’s true leadership shown through when asked about the struggles of the offensive line and quarterback Drake Maye, who was sacked six times and turned the ball over three times in the 29-13 loss.
“Guys, we can try to sit here and put it all on one guy,” the coach said. “You’ll be disappointed, because that will never happen. It starts with us as a coaching staff, and making sure that we’re doing our part. Then obviously we have to be able to execute. We’ve got to be able to protect, and when we protect, we have to be able to progress through and throw the ball to the guy that’s open and help the quarterback. And then he’s got to be better. That’s just how it goes, so that’s never going to change.”
New England’s defense held Seattle to just one offensive touchdown, but the offense struggled to do much of anything until late in the fourth quarter.
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