New England Patriots - NESN.com
Mike Vrabel has the New England Patriots trending upward following a massive Week 5 win over the Buffalo Bills.
The Patriots improved to 3-2 after their 23-20 victory on “Sunday Night Football.” A team that went 4-13 in each of the last two seasons is now warranting legitimate playoff buzz early in Vrabel’s first season.
At least one star player is buying into his new coach. Christian Gonzalez praised Vrabel when asked about the former linebacker waiting in the tunnel to congratulate every player after the win.
“I love Vrabel. He’s an amazing coach,” Gonzalez said. “An energy guy, big energy guy. Brings a lot of energy to the team. The things he does, the way he coaches, it’s easy to go out there and play for him. You want to go make the plays and put on for him and this organization, so it’s awesome playing for Vrabes.”
Vrabel explained his reasoning behind the post-game ritual after Sunday’s big win, via MassLive’s Chris Mason.
“I want to thank and congratulate each and every one of them,” Vrabel said. “Everybody has a role. Everybody has a job, and those jobs are critical. Whether that’s the trainer, the equipment manager, the assistant coach, the offensive coordinator, our starters, our special teams players, our backups, it takes everybody to come on the road. It takes everybody to win in this league, and I want to thank them for that. And I like to see the look on their faces. I’m happy for them.”
After missing the season’s first three games with a hamstring injury, Gonzalez has returned to anchor New England’s secondary. The cornerback tallied six tackles and a pass breakup in Sunday’s win, helping limit MVP quarterback Josh Allen to 253 passing yards on 31 attempts.
The Patriots may have surprised some observers, but Gonzalez didn’t consider Sunday’s win a significant confidence boost since he already believed in the team. For all the excitement Vrabel has helped build in Foxborough, Gonzalez knows it will only last if they follow up with a Week 6 win over the New Orleans Saints.
“We know what we got,” Gonzalez said. “So, I mean, we just went out there and showed it. Now we got to stack on it. It’s a good win, but it don’t mean nothing if we can’t stack.”
