Mike Vrabel playfully roasted Patriots DB who told him to stop wearing a certain number in practice
“He told me to go check in on the Patriots Hall of Fame. Nothing I could say to come back from that.”
FOXBOROUGH — Patriots coach Mike Vrabel, who will turn 50 next month, still takes a hands-on approach to practice.
At times he can be spotted wearing a practice pinnie and standing in as a defender during walkthroughs. He wears No. 5, which happens to belong to safety Jabrill Peppers.
Peppers had a laugh after practice when he recalled telling the Patriots coach to wear something else.
“I keep telling him to take that 5 off because he’s not tough enough,” Peppers said with a smile. “He told me to go check in on the Patriots Hall of Fame. Nothing I could say to come back from that.”
Vrabel, who spent eight seasons with the franchise as a player and was a member of three Super Bowl championship teams, was inducted into the Patriots Hall of Fame in 2023. He made the lone Pro Bowl appearance of his career in 2007 while suiting up for New England. He wore No. 50 during his playing days.
His approach, as far as wearing practice gear, is somewhat unusual among recent Patriots head coaches. Bill Belichick, who coached the team for 24 years, was more partial to hoodies.
Jerod Mayo, a Pro Bowl linebacker in his own right who is also a decade younger than Vrabel, didn’t incorporate practice pinnies into his training camp look when he was head coach last year.
Vrabel has his own style, and it’s one of several ways he’s making his mark on this Patriots team.
“I think whenever you have a guy who is that hands-on, it’s a blessing,” rookie offensive tackle Will Campbell said in June. “He’s in there physically. He comes out of practice sweating just as much as we do.”
“Some coaches like to say this, that, and the other. He’s in there doing it with us at every position group, every single day,” Campbell added. “It’s really cool having a coach like that who cares about everything as much as he does.”
Peppers’s relationship with Vrabel goes back almost a decade, when Peppers was visiting Ohio State on a recruiting trip years ago. Peppers ended up choosing rival Michigan, but he said the first encounter with Vrabel was memorable.
“I didn’t know he used to play a little tight-end back when Brady was here,” Peppers said in May. “He told me to line up. [I’m like] he’s a linebacker, he ain’t got too much. He routed me up and caught the ball. That was one of the first things he said to me when he got here. So, it’s been good. I think he definitely knows how to get the most out of his players.”
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