New England Patriots - NESN.com
New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel could introduce a funky wrinkle over the summer, though he’s hoping it isn’t needed.
Vrabel, Eliot Wolf and Ryan Cowden will be tasked with rebuilding the offensive line this offseason, as protecting the face of their franchise is the top priority, Drake Maye didn’t exactly do himself any favors last season, though, which led to an ultimatum from his head coach.
“He needs to slide,” Vrabel said on Sirius XM on Tuesday. “I told him, ‘We need to figure it out.’ I sent him a clip of spring training, and there was a team that was sliding on a slip-n-slide to practice. I sent him that, and I said, ‘If you don’t start sliding, we’re going to do this drill. If it’s the goal line, different story. I don’t need you trying to make the free safety miss while three other guys are chasing you down.'”
The Boston Red Sox, of course, were that team.
Maye missed an entire practice week after suffering a concussion during his rookie season, though that came as a result of sliding. The Patriots are still hoping to make that a regular occurrence — the sliding, not the concussion — moving forward.
Vrabel has been locked into the local sports landscape recently, not only keeping tabs on spring training in Fort Myers, Fla. but also attending a practice at the request of Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla.
