Mike Vrabel on Stefon Diggs, Drake Maye, and perspective from his father after a signature Patriots win

"I don't want any of us in this organization to think that something is unbelievable."

Mike Vrabel speaking to reporters following the Patriots' win over the Bills in Buffalo on Oct. 5. AP Photo/Adrian Kraus

By Hayden Bird

October 6, 2025

5 minutes to read

Hours after the Patriots’ stunned the Bills 23-20 in Buffalo on Sunday, New England head coach Mike Vrabel was back at it on Monday morning with his weekly WEEI interview on “The Greg Hill Show.”

“Happy for the players,” Vrabel said after being congratulated about the win. “We’ve got to pick up the pieces and keep moving.”

The game was filled with important performances from a Patriots’ standpoint, especially as the team tries to build itself back into a winner. Quarterback Drake Maye made several highlight plays, and wide receiver Stefon Diggs tallied 10 catches for 146 yards against his former team.

In reference to an earlier Diggs quote that he had only a “five out of 10” comfort level in the Patriots’ offense (said after last week’s win over the Panthers), Vrabel humorously predicted that perhaps the veteran wideout will be more locked in by November.

“Hopefully by Thanksgiving we can be up to eight or nine,” Vrabel joked after Diggs said he was up to a six following his best game as a Patriot.

The victory over the Bills — a team that has won the AFC East six years in a row — was a major achievement for the Patriots, and can be seen as an early signature win for both Maye and Vrabel.

Queried about how he can use such a momentous win to help his team in the future, Vrabel shared a story from his father.

“You know I probably lose sight of some of that sometimes with especially some of our younger players,” Vrabel said of the value of winning in Buffalo. “My dad, who I think always has good perspective, was able to be at the game last night. He just kind of rattled off all the young players that are out there making contributions.

“He said, ‘I’ve been here a bunch, and it was loud.’ It was something that you have to remind these guys that if they can do it in [that game], they can do it pretty much anywhere.”

Here’s what Vrabel had to say about a few other topics:

The ongoing role of Rhamondre Stevenson

Though he fumbled again in the first quarter, running back Rhamondre Stevenson remained in the Patriots’ rotation. He eventually scored twice to help New England get the win, filling in especially after fellow RB Antonio Gibson exited with an injury.

“Well we go with all of them, and we’ll use all of them,” Vrabel said of the running back depth chart.

“One, he’s valuable in protection,” Vrabel said of Stevenson’s pass protection ability. “When the other team starts blitzing and heating us up, it’s critical that somebody protects the quarterback. And in those short yardage instances around the goal-line, we mix carries up. So everybody’s going to have a role, and we’ll have to take care of the ball.”

Still, Vrabel reiterated the importance of Stevenson eventually becoming a more mistake-free player.

“Rhamondre understands how critical the ball is, but we’ve got to start putting that fire out, and making sure that until we’re back in the huddle that the ball remains in our possession.”

What Vrabel saw from Drake Maye

Speaking about Maye, who completed 22 of 30 passes for 273 yards and powered his team’s late drive for the winning field goal, Vrabel credited the 23-year-old quarterback’s resilience and improvisational ability.

“His toughness, and his ability to extend plays, [and] keep his eyes down the field,” Vrabel noted of what he liked from Maye. “The play strength — I think one of [his highlight plays] was pretty much a horse-collar [tackle], and he’s pulling out of it or still trying to throw the football, but still put the football in good places, safe places right out in front of receivers and not behind guys. That will continue to be something that we’ll have to use to our advantage.”

“I felt like that was a good drive,” he said of the final few minutes, when Maye drove the Patriots into range for a game-winning field goal. “I would’ve liked to have gotten a little closer, but under those circumstances and the way that we were trying to manage the clock, knowing who’s on the other side, I thought that that was really good for our football team, to have that situation come up and be able to execute it.”

The possibility of making an in-season addition

The NFL trade deadline is set for 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 4. Should the Patriots continue to develop under Vrabel and remain in contention, the possibility of an in-season acquisition could become a reality.

What’s Vrabel’s take on pursuing trades with other teams that might have disgruntled players?

“I think that the organization will always be in favor of trying to improve the football team and its roster and the people that play for us,” Vrabel replied. “So whether they’re on another team, whether they’re not on another team, whether they’re on our team, we’re always going to try to find ways to improve the roster and the people that are here.

“So that’ll go for anybody that we could potentially add to our football team, and that’s all about all I can say. That’ll be the stance forever.”

Was this a “signature win” for the Patriots?

Unsurprisingly, Vrabel was not trying to wax poetic about the Sunday night accomplishment. Though the victory over Buffalo is already being called a “signature win,” he isn’t getting carried away.

“I’m just happy for the players,” he responded when questioned about what the win meant to him on a personal level. “Happy to recognize that they could prepare and they could go out there on a big stage. We talked about taking the next step, and that was the message last week. I felt like they took that to heart, and they did that.

“About all the other stuff, I don’t really know,” he added. “I always like to think that there are things that are interesting, and there are things that are important, [but] a two-game win streak is not very uncommon.”

He closed with a window into the mindset he wants to cultivate with the Patriots.

“Somebody just recently said to me, ‘That was unbelievable,'” Vrabel recalled following the win over the Bills. “I said, ‘No it wasn’t. It was very believable.'”

“I don’t want any of us in this organization to think that something is unbelievable. We’re going to prepare, and we’re going to play to our style, and we’re going to make adjustments, and we’re going to compete, but it’s very believable. So we’ll have to do it again here as soon as I hang up this phone call and that’ll be what we do.”