Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Mike Vrabel’s UNQUESTIONED Presence | O-Line Intel | Terrell Williams Latest

Episode Date: May 12, 2025

Mike Vrabel has certainly made an impactful first impression at the New England Patriots’ rookie minicamp over the weekend. Does that first impression matter much?Also, Will Campbell and other rookies took to the field, giving the media a glimpse of how the Patriots O-Line coaching staff will work together. Speaking of Campbell, he made an important mention of Morgan Moses, while meeting with the media. And, we have an update on Terrell Williams’ health status and when he could return to Foxboro after an unexpected absence.Follow & Subscribe on all Podcast platforms…🎧 https://link.chtbl.com/LOPatriots?sid=YouTubeLocked On NFL League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Draft & More🎧 https://linktr.ee/LockedOnNFL#patriots #newenglandpatriotsSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNBA for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.Monarch MoneyTake control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONNFL at monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year.FanDuelRight now, new customers can get TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in BONUS BETS when your first FIVE DOLLAR BET WINS! Download the app or head to FANDUEL.COM to get started. Bet with FanDuel—Official Partner of the NBA.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)

The undeniable presence of Mike Vrabel. That's where we start on this episode of Locked On Patriots. You are Locked On Patriots, your daily New England Patriots podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. What's up, Patriots fans? I am your host Nick Cattles, born and raised in New England, your New England Patriots expert host of the Everything Pats podcast co host of the Greg Bedard Patriots podcast with Nick Cattles and also a sports talk show host

veteran on today's episode. The latest Intel on the offensive line and defensive coordinator Terrell Williams speaks about his unexpected absence. But first, the biggest takeaway of rookie minicamp had nothing to do with the rookies. We appreciate you joining the show, making us your first listen and for being an everydayer, the Lockdown Patriots podcast is a proud partner of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Today's episode is brought to you by Monarch Money. Take control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKDOWNNFL at monarchmoney.com

for 50% off your first year. Let's go back to 2024 before we get to current day and then looking forward. Back in 2024, it feels like it was five years ago, but Gerard Mayo was named the head coach and Mayo at the time was described as a CEO head coach. Now you could also describe Mike Vrabel as a CEO head coach because the basic definition of a CEO head coach in the NFL is somebody that's not calling plays offensively or defensively, and is just overlooking the entire operation.

But there are different types of CEOs, just like in the business world, there are different types of CEO head coaches in the league. And Mike Vrabel is proving to be already a very different kind of CEO. Vrabel likes to get his hands dirty. He likes to be incredibly involved during the process. And we found that out. First day, rookie minute camp, last Friday. Greg Bedard wrote this, big picture. This is quite the departure from last year in terms of the pace and intensity of the practices, which is spearheaded by Vrebel, who was involved in everything. He's constantly coaching, pulling players aside, jumping into

scout teams, and even telling the media to get off the field colorfully. Gerard Mayo was an observer 95% of the time, delegated. Vrebel is right up in there. Karen Garegian at Mass Live wrote about Vrabel at Rookie Minicamp Day 1. He challenged players. He encouraged players. He instructed players. And on more than one occasion, he barked at players. One day in a camp, and the players got a full dose of the Vrabel way. And this wasn't the unplugged version. He addressed every mistake in this cue, but mostly he taught. He was on his players until he got it right, or at the very least, understood the message. At one point, Vrabel put on a chest pad, something he's done at previous stops in Tennessee and Cleveland,

and had players run through him. He also put on a yellow pinny with the number 51 and played defense for one session against the offense during Friday's practice. Fully immersed in the practice is Vrabel. Completely hands-on, engaged, embracing the back and forth, not delegating 95% of the time. Now I'm not saying that Gerard Mayo's way can't work. I'm just saying that Mike Vrabel is a completely different type of CEO that we are going to witness during this camp season.

So be ready for it. He establishes relationships with the players on the field. And I think when you watch him during a practice, it's rather obvious that the relationships that he is establishing across the team is done in a very interesting, colorful, as Bedard put it, and humanizing way. He's giving the players accessibility on the field to him. It's a completely different process when you're on the field and you're working with guys when you're hands on when you're delegating. You come across as the coach you come across as the boss you come across as somebody who is telling me what to do. field and you're involving yourself, it just feels like that relationship is a little bit more meaningful. It's not necessarily coming across as the hierarchy, the boss telling me what to do, the boss is in there working with me. If you have a boss, sometimes that boss, hands on, roll up the sleeves, walk into the office, work with you on something. Sometimes you get bosses that are just, send me an email,

give me an update every few days. Vrabel is not the send me an email type of boss. He's the boss that's gonna walk into the office with you, roll up the sleeves and work on that project, hand in hand with you. And the message is clear. If I work, if I'm Mike Vrabel and I'm out there on the practice field and I'm working, if I work, they work.

And when you do that, I think you have a better shot of getting buy-in. Here's what Karen Gurigian wrote. The players clearly took note talking about Vrabel's presence and how he handled the practice. Here's what Jared Wilson said, rookie offensive lineman, quote, I love that. It shows you how much he cares and how much he cares about the rookies and how much he cares about their development and everybody, not just the draft guys, but literally everybody that's a rookie. So Vrabel's out there and he's working with the FD and Chisholm's. He's working with those guys. He's not just selecting the top two or three picks out of this year's draft.

He's going around. He's working with everybody, which makes you feel like your time is valuable, that he's not wasting you away in some football oblivion. Wilson continued, he cares about everything in his hands on. It's just great to see him out there actually running around with us. No job is too small. That's the message that variable is sending. No job is too small.

Nobody in this rookie mini camp is going to be deemed as inconsequential in a head coach's eyes. He wants to work with everybody. He wants to block and let people run through him. He wants to work with everybody. Everybody is an equal when the coach is out there on the field working with everybody, even the undrafted running back,

the undrafted fullback, and it's setting a tone. Vrabel set the tone with the offseason the way that the Patriots kind of deliberately, methodically, but intentionally went through the offseason adding pieces that Vrabel deemed fit for his culture, for his football team. And now it's practice time with the rookies, rookie mini camp, and he's out there setting the tone. Day one of rookie mini camp, and Vrabel's in fifth gear. That's how you set the tone. That's how you let everybody know

that there's gonna be some urgency here at Gillette Stadium now There's going to be some urgency behind what we do in 2025 we don't have time to waste you are a rookie class and we are going to hit the ground running day one and that's the type of urgency and When you go after a rookie minicamp practice day one like Vrabel did, you're showing the urgency but you're also stressing the details. There is no detail that is too small. They will not go overlooked by Mike

Vrabel and this coaching staff. So you're setting the tone, you're establishing relationships, you're showing urgency. And I love every single part of that. And with variable working the way he's working, what do you think that does to the coaching staff? It lifts the rest of the staff. If the head coach is not taking shortcuts, if the head coach isn't being lazy, and I'm not saying that prior head coaches have been lazy here with the Patriots because they weren't on the field with, you know, the 51 penny running around. I'm not saying that. But if you are a coach and you're watching the head coach of the program working as hard as Vrabel is working with pretty much everybody on the field and not going through the motions not standing there just watching in

delegating to you That puts pressure on the rest of the staff because if the head coach is putting that much into it you best put that much Into it because if not you're falling short of the expectations And so not only are the players feeling that energy the staff is feeling that energy So not only are the players feeling that energy, the staff is feeling that energy. And if you have the staff and the players feeling that energy and Vrabel is pushing out that energy constantly during a practice,

then that is what the team is going to feel like from beginning to end every day they touch that field. It's that kind of competitive energy. Every day they touch that field. It's that kind of competitive energy. And that's what Vrabel wants to push through to these young guys. So Mike Vrabel was the standout at day one that was open to the media.

Not necessarily any of the rookies. The biggest takeaway was Mike Vrabel's unquestioned presence during that practice and how he does business. First day of Rookie Minute Camp also gave us a peek inside the offensive line staff and more. That's coming up next as we continue with today's episode of Locked On Patriots, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. It's part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Ever check into your bank account and wonder, where did all the money go? Between dining out, online shopping, and entertainment, it's easy to lose track.

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All in one convenience. Instead of juggling multiple apps, you can use Monarch to check your finances, track that spending, and even plan long-term goals. Take control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKDONNFL at MonarchMoney.com for 50% off your first year. That's MonarchMoney.com. That code is L-O-C-K-E-D-O-N-N D O N NFL for half off your first year. You're not winning many football games, especially in the NFL if your offensive line is a dumpster fire. And here in New England, we absolutely understand that after the past couple of years. It wasn't the only reason why you suffered through back to back four win seasons, but it was one of the key reasons why you suffered through back to back four win seasons.

A dumpster fire offensive line can just flatly ruin your offense. It can ruin your offense. It can ruin your quarterback. It can first ruin your quarterback, which in turn ruins your offense. It can ruin your offense. It can ruin your quarterback. It can first ruin your quarterback, which in turn ruins your offense. So last thing you want is an offensive line dumpster fire. And hopefully Mike Vrabel, Elliot Wolf and Company have gone a long way over the past couple of months to plug those holes that were in the offensive line boat because there were way too many of them. And at the rookie mini camp, it was interesting

because this was the first time that we got a pretty good idea as to how the offensive line coaching staff is going to work together. How are they going to approach things? Greg Bedard wrote the following at Boston Sports Journal, the offensive line coaching was interesting if unexpected. Doug Morrone seemed to be the supervisor.

Jason Hotaling was the drill sergeant. And Robert Kugler dealt with the scout slash look teams. Hotaling means business. It almost feels like this was a good cop, bad cop type situation where Marrone was the supervisor and could come across as the good cop because he wasn't really meddling. He wasn't getting too involved. He wasn't being the Mike Vrabel of the offensive line coaches, so to speak, and Hotelling was the drill sergeant as Baddard called him so he could come across as maybe the bad cop

So maybe a little good cop bad cop action with with the young Offensive lineman here, but you wonder why maroon would be supervising It's an interesting approach. We just went through Mike Vrabel's approach and how he does it as as the head man And getting involved with everybody and running around and making sure that he's touching dudes and pushing them and prodding them. Meanwhile, you've got Marrone who was supervising and maybe Marrone's style is that he's going to take a 30,000 foot evaluation of the rookies, which would make some sense. He wants to look at these rookies while hoteling puts them through the paces and make his evaluations

on these young men and how they need to improve. It also could be a great window into how Vrabel is going to handle his staff. Vrabel, as I just said last segment, inherently puts pressure on the staff to make sure they're stepping up. But it doesn't mean that every single coach on the staff has to do things exactly the way that Vrabel does them. And maybe Vrabel allows the coaches to coach the way they coach. And says, look, I'm, I'm

all in, I'm hands on constantly, but that doesn't necessarily mean that you have to be hands on constantly. Get involved when you want to get involved. Let Hotaling be the guy that's you know, on the field, the drill sergeant being involved with with all of these different drills and and he's the one that that's getting a little bit more of the engagement. So it's an interesting thing because Vrabel is, I would imagine, looks at Doug Moronin says, Sky was a head coach in the league and he knows what he's doing. I'm not going to get in the way. Now if I see the offensive line not playing well, if I see something that I hate

during practice, then I'll say something. But up until then, I'm going to let the guy coach the way he coaches. When you have three offensive line coaches like the Patriots have, which is practically unheard of in the NFL, you get to deal with all the details. You know exactly who is in charge of which offensive lineman? what that offensive lineman might not do well and Because you're not spreading thin one guy or two guys working with the o-line It gives it gives the opportunity to these coaches to work a little bit closer and more detailed with whichever offensive lineman is actually handed to them by Doug

Morrone or Vrabel himself. So you can work on the details when you have three offensive line coaches. You can work on development when you have three offensive line coaches because Doug Morrone is not responsible working with 10 or 11 or 12 guys. So you split it up details and development. And I absolutely love the idea. I'm not going to guarantee you it's going to work, but I love the idea. I love the approach of having not one, not two, but three online coaches,

devoting time equally to a set of three or four guys. If that's how they're going to parse this thing out, it would make sense. So pretty interesting the way that they were handling the young offensive lineman. Will Campbell, obviously the young offensive lineman we're going to be talking about all year long. Mark Daniels posted and Campbell met with the media and he said that Morgan Moses has already reached out to him and Daniels wrote, it sounds like the veteran right tackle will be a mentor to the future starting left tackle. And this is the kind of structure that you want to set up. We talked about it last week about the layers of leadership. And when you look at what Vrabel and Wolf and Cowden

and the rest of the front office, what they're trying to begin, what they're trying to start here at Gillette with these younger guys, they're trying to set these guys on the path in the right way. And the way you do that is you bring in veterans, you bring in the right veterans, a guy like Morgan Moses who can lead through and through, you bring him in, and that guy knows immediately, day one, Will Campbell gets drafted, I'm getting on the phone with him, I'm talking to him about what I expect and what we expect as a room and how to handle himself professionally.

And he might think he knows everything, but maybe I can help him with a couple of details that he might not know about because he's 21 years old. He literally just turned 21, I believe, in January. It's very similar to, you know, Joshua Farmer saying that Milton Williams, when Farmer came in for his visit at Gillette, William sat there and talked to him for about 30 minutes. So you get the right veteran in the room, that right veteran mentors, the young

guys, and then in a year or two, when it's time to pass the torch, you pass the torch and the young guy carries the torch for the next seven, eight, nine years. That's the way it's supposed to work. Andrew Callahan posted that Campbell said, Vrabelel stressed the team's identity before practice. This was last Friday, the rookie mini camp and the offense, the offensive identity is finish and strain. Finish and strain. You look up the definition of strain and it tells you that strain means to unusually give great effort, unusual great effort. That is straining. And remember what Vrabel said in his introductory press conference. He wanted

to pay attention and focus on effort and finish. And so I guess he's kind of tweaked it a little bit and now it's finished and strained but it's the same basic idea. Strain yourself. Give me unusual great effort, because if you give unusual great effort, you're going to be so much better for it when all is said and done. And when Vrabel talks about finishing, have great finish, he's talking about finish on your block. If you're a running back, finish on your runs, right?

Run strong through contact. He's talking about an offense in totality. Finish your drives. Get in the red zone and finish He's talking about games if you have an opportunity as an offense to finish that game and not give the ball back To the opponents finish the game. So unusually great effort strain and

Then finish finish your blocks finish your runs finish your runs, finish your drives and finish the game. That's the focus. Terrell Williams discusses his health situation and unexpected absence from Gillette. That's coming up next as we continue with today's episode of Lockdown Patriots, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Any new regime, and it doesn't matter who's running the regime, any new regime, the less bumps, the better.

The less obstacles, the less issues, the less problems, the less deterrents, the better. And we found out last Friday, and I talked about this when the news broke on the Everything Pats podcast, if you want to check it out on YouTube, but we found out from Mike Vrabel that Terrell Williams, defensive coordinator, was absent. He was not going to be at rookie mandatory mini camp or rookie mini camp. Put too many words in there. He was not going to be at rookie mini camp. And Vrabel said at the time that Williams would speak to the media later in the afternoon. Well, that's exactly what he did. And we've got the latest from the past defensive coordinator.

Mike Giardi posted this Williams told the media he had a quote unquote health scare. And while he's away from the building, he's quote not away from the team unquote. He's been in Detroit since the incident and he called the medical issue traumatic for him. So there was an incident. This medical issue was traumatic. Mike Reese wrote the following, when asked what message he hopes people take from

what he shared about his health scare. Here's what William said, quote, football is a job that obviously there was some stress involved, just eating right, working out. If you're supposed to take any medication, take it. Like I told the players, we all think we're invincible unquote. Now I'm not going to speculate. take it, like I told the players, we all think we're invincible, unquote. Now I'm not going to speculate. Williams did not share the specifics of this incident.

Didn't say exactly what happened, but he's talking about stress. He's talking about eating, right? He's talking about working out, taking medication. If you're supposed to take it. He mentioned how, you know, he's pretty much just ignored doctors over the last few years. But he did not give specifics. At least not yet. He did say that he will talk about what happened. He will talk about the health scare at a later date.

He did not want to talk about it on Friday. at a later date. He did not want to talk about it on Friday. Now, when you look at the mechanics of all this, your DC not being in town for rookie minicamp, and Mike Reese reported that Williams has been away from the facility for around a month. If this was 1985, it'd be a much bigger deal. If it was 1995, it'd be a much bigger deal. Shoot, if it was 2005, maybe even 2015, it would be a much bigger deal. If it was 1995 would be a much bigger deal. Shoot if it was 2005, maybe even 2015, it would be a much bigger deal. But it's easier to work remotely and still have a significant impact in 2025. The pandemic changed

many things and the pandemic taught us that we can work remotely. And we have learned over the past five years or so how to not only work remotely but work efficiently and How to work best remotely? The standards have been set and then reset over and over and over again So Williams not being here over the past month or so. It's not ideal But it's not the end of the world because of what we have learned over the past half decade Now, of course if you're not in person working with these players,

it'll impact guys in certain ways. And Williams is not being given the opportunity because he's had to stay in Detroit for the last month or so. He's not been given the opportunity that Vrabel had last Friday to work with the players on the field and establish those stronger relationships. But there's still time where Williams can do that. Just no in-person work hurts. I'm not saying it will damage this team in any way or damage the defense, but it's less

than ideal. It is less than ideal. Mike Reese with more from Terrell Williams said, quote, where I am now, my mind is clear. I'm moving around. I'm happy. Everything is good. I'm just looking forward to getting back to Foxboro and seeing everybody in person. So if you take that quote, it certainly sounds somewhat optimistic, if not optimistic period

end of sentence. It sounds like Williams sees the light at the end of the tunnel and that this is not going to be something that could last months and months and months. Says he's feeling good. Everything is good. His mind is clear and he's looking forward to getting back to Foxboro and seeing everybody in person. So it feels like there's at least some level of optimism about William's situation and his availability

being sooner rather than later, which is great to hear. And obviously we hope that he is through this physically, the health scare has been addressed, and as a human being, he's taking care of things and he's in a better spot. Now if it does take longer, if something else comes up or we find out that Williams is going to be out longer than he first thought, will the Patriots add to the coaching staff? Will Vrabel look to go outside of the walls and bring somebody else in? Not as the DC

necessarily, but an extra body or two. Because we know Vrabel told us at the presser that Zach Kerr inside linebackers coach had taken over the responsibilities of Williams in person while Williams has been gone. So would you just throw the extra responsibilities on Kerr's plate and say that's just the way it is and Williams would help him remotely? Or would you look to bring some other people in to take the inside linebacker job and then Zach Kerr would pretty much be the de facto defensive coordinator with help from Raible until Williams was ready to come back.

I don't know. It'll be interesting to watch how this all unfolds and how Vrabel handles it, when Williams can get back, how long this might be. I do think that this offseason helps this situation because Vrabel in the front office, they paid close attention to the backgrounds of the players they were bringing in. And they made sure that they brought guys on, especially defensively, that had a history with their defensive coaching staff. Landry knows what he's doing.

Spillane knows what he's doing. They've both played on a Vrabel slash Williams defense. Carlton Davis last year played in Detroit. Williams was in Detroit. Now, of course, Williams was working with the defensive line and Davis is a cornerback, but he already has that relationship. He has some relationship with Davis. So when you look at the veterans that they brought in that have experienced the knowledge of what this system is trying to accomplish, I do think that helps. Finally, Mike Giardi wrote about Williams, those I've talked to around the league believe Williams to be one of the best assistants in the game and overdue for his shot at running a defense. Love to hear it, love to hear it.

That's what people are saying throughout the game that Williams is one of the best assistant coaches in the league and that he absolutely deserves his chance to run a defense. Now, of course, there was a lot of great things said about the Marcus Covington in his first year as a DC last season was an absolute disaster. Hopefully that is not the case here. Hopefully if things get off to a slow start, Vrabel would have no issue of

jumping in and helping the defense unlike Gerard Mayo reportedly was hesitant to do that. I've got some high expectations for this defense. I think they could be really good. Vrabel's history in Tennessee, when his team was healthy, his defense was very tough. They were physical, they were tough, they were on the details. Mike Vrabel knows what he's doing on that side of the ball.

And so with Vrabel and Williams, they've got an experienced staff, with Mike Smith and Clint McMillan and a number of other guys working within this defensive staff. I just think that they have everything they need to have in the staff and most of what they need on the field to be very good and incredibly competitive on that side of the ball. They've added talent, free agency, the draft,

the farmer and Swinson picks, both guys fell. So I have some pretty high expectations for the defense, but I will warn all of you. I had high expectations for the defense last year, and we know where that went. But that's when I look at Vrabel, I look at Williams, I look at the rest of this defensive staff and I say, I got some confidence. That wraps up this edition of Lockdown Patriots.

Let me know your thoughts on today's topics. Reach out to me on Twitter at Nick C. Radio. Don't forget to throw a comment in on the YouTube channel and thank you for making Lockdown Patriots your first listen today. For your second listen, check out Lockdown NFL Scouting. Hosts Kyle Krabs, and Joe Marino will make you the most informed NFL fan this offseason. Find Lockdown NFL Scouting on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts. Have a great day and we will see you tomorrow.