Pats Pulpit
The Patriots’ behind-the-scenes
The New England Patriots released the first episode of their Forged in Foxborough documentary series on Friday afternoon. Over the course of 73 minutes it gives insight into the team’s first offseason under head coach Mike Vrabel so far, including his hiring as head coach, free agency, and the draft.
Insight into the latter was probably the most interesting part of the whole episode, but it is worth watching in full nonetheless. With that said, here are six takeaways.
The show opened with the Patriots’ head coach addressing his team for the first time, and setting the stage for what the program is going to look like under his leadership. The four big pillars upon which it is going to be built are, he explained, would be respect, honesty, trust and accountability.
“When we talk about, when I got here and what my goal was, it was to build a program that you guys and the coaches and the staff wanted to be a part of, that they wanted to protect and that they are proud of it,” Vrabel told the team. “I’m proud of the way we prepare, I’m proud of the way we practice, and I’m proud of my teammates for the effort with which they play.”
The Patriots’ 2024 season was a major disappointment, resulting in the firing of Jerod Mayo and Vrabel getting hired as head coach. Vrabel, however, is wasting no thought on the issues that plagued the team last year.
“Somebody asked me, ‘Are you worried about what went wrong last year?’ Why the f--k would I care about what happened last year?” he said during his speech to the team. “I’m worried about what’s going to right today and tomorrow and the next day. We’re not worried about what went wrong. We’re focused on what’s going to go right.”
Among those interviewed for the show was national scout Matt Evans, and he mentioned toughness as the one trait Mike Vrabel wants out of his players.
“I would say toughness is the biggest thing, where it’s a non-negotiable,” Evans explained. “It’s hard to bring players to the table with Vrabes that you aren’t convinced are real tough guys.”
One of those, apparently, is offensive lineman Jared Wilson. A third-round pick by the Patriots, Wilson was scouted by Evans during the pre-draft process.
What the look inside the Patriots’ draft room shows more than anything is who is running the show: it’s Mike Vrabel as well as EVP of player personnel Eliot Wolf and VP of player personnel Ryan Cowden. While others are obviously also involved — including director of player personnel Matt Groh, senior executive Alonzo Highsmith and since-departed college scouting director Camren Williams — those three are the main men.
The Patriots’ video production team successfully blurred out the most...
