New England Patriots - NESN.com
The New England Patriots are kicking off their joint practices with the Washington Commanders on Wednesday morning. And as is usually the case, head coach Mike Vrabel made sure to immediately begin trash-talking his new opponents.
When scheduling joint practices, coaches typically look to link up with teams that feature other coaches they are familiar with. On the Commanders, Vrabel is familiar with their offensive coordinator, Kliff Kingsbury, as they were briefly teammates in New England during their playing careers.
Whereas Vrabel was a star linebacker for the Patriots in the early part of their recent dynasty, Kingsbury was an unheralded quarterback who was selected in the sixth round of the 2003 NFL Draft. Kingsbury never took the field for New England, but he got a ring after New England won Super Bowl XXXVIII.
Kingsbury’s NFL career never took off, but the things he learned as a player have helped him become a successful coach in the league. That didn’t stop Vrabel from immediately taking a jab at Kingsbury ahead of the team’s latest practice when asked about what he remembers from Kingsbury’s days as a player with the Pats.
“He wasn’t better than Tom Brady,” Vrabel hilariously deadpanned, per Doug Kyed of the Boston Herald.
It goes without saying that not many quarterbacks are in the conversation of being better than Tom Brady. After all, that’s typically what happens when you win a record seven Super Bowls throughout the course of your career.
Vrabel has not been afraid to call out anybody early on in his stint with the Patriots, as he’s taken aim at the media, his own players and coaches, and now the team’s first real opponent of the year, the Commanders.
That’s just who Vrabel is, though, and he has made it clear this is part of the culture he’s looking to establish in New England. Now, the team will get its first real look at how well they are progressing when it goes up against Washington over the next few days.
