Patriots’ Keion White is embracing the Mike Vrabel era: ‘Now I feel like I have a coach’
White praised Vrabel and outside linebackers coach Mike Smith for giving him pointers he hadn't heard before.
There has been plenty of turnover on the Patriots’ coaching staff since defensive end Keion White was drafted in 2023.
White doesn’t seem to mind the recent moves the Patriots have made to build a new staff around head coach Mike Vrabel. He said Vrabel has already earned his respect.
“I like Mike. He leads with work,” White said. “I can respect that. It’s similar to Bill [Belichick], just with a younger face. I think we all know how I feel about that; I liked him.”
“So it’s comforting to know that you have a hard-ass at the helm who will not be afraid to fistfight with you in a back alley.”
The Patriots fired Jerod Mayo after one season and hired Vrabel during the offseason. White did not mention Mayo or any of the coaches on his staff by name, but said that the new coaching staff under has taught him specific techniques and though processes that he wasn’t getting last year.
White said he’s looking to play with more consistency this year. He had a hot start, posting four sacks over the first two games, but recorded just one more throughout the rest of the season. He said he had been trying to pick things up on his own last season, but didn’t get the level of support that he is now getting from the new staff.
“I’ve been training myself. I ain’t going to lie,” he said. “Now I feel like I have a coach.”
White was asked about spending more time playing on the edge this season. The previous coaching staff had touted his versatility and had played him both inside and outside last season.
The Patriots have also made some personnel changes up front, adding defensive lineman Milton Williams and outside linebacker Harold Landry. They also have defensive Christian Barmore back in the mix after the Barmore missed most of the season after a blood clot diagnosis.
“Just consistency and having confidence,” White said. “I feel like we have really good guys on inside who can get after the passer on every down situations. That changes what I can do a little bit. I can be a little less conservative and be more aggressive on the edge.”
“It changes a lot of things, and I have a really good coach, coach [Mike] Smith telling me steps, alignment things like that I haven’t traditionally heard. Just that next step of having that coach behind me has been really good for me.”
White also said some of the time spent working on pass-rush moves during the early periods of practice has been helpful.
“It’s pretty good. It’s helpful for me because it slows it down for me a little bit and it trains me,” White said. “He’s doing a good job of saying this is what you need to think of, this is your thought process. That’s something I don’t think I had before and what I was missing.”
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