Patriots Champion Has Strong Take On Mike Vrabel’s Demands For Players

Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel, perhaps to his chagrin, generated a ton of attention this week.

Vrabel’s speech to players at the outset of New England’s voluntary offseason program went viral on social media. The straightforward address featured a series of the coach’s expectations for players, including punctuality and cell phone etiquette. Many viewed Vrabel’s words as a shining example of culture building, something the ex-linebacker harped on upon replacing Jerod Mayo.

Former Patriots tight end Christian Fauria, however, didn’t view those requests as setting standards.

“So, asking employees to be on time, then announcing that you actually get for or five chances to be late, then we ‘may’ do something and asking grown men to take off their hoodies and make sure their phones are on silent? This is not culture building this is level 1 of how to be an adult and work in a professional environment,” Fauria posted to X on Wednesday.

There’s a chance Vrabel has the same take on the situation as his former New England teammate. The video of the team meeting was mysteriously taken down by the Patriots, and one NFL insider believes that could have been a result of Vrabel being peeved by the attention it received.

But by all accounts, Mayo and his 2024 staff left the team in a pretty terrible spot by last season’s end. So Vrabel effectively was tasked with starting at ground zero, which seemingly set the stage for establishing base-level rules.