Mike Vrabel gave 11-2 Patriots this strong warning heading into bye week

The New England Patriots' dominant 33-15 victory over the lowly New York Giants (2-11) on Monday night guaranteed that the Patriots would enter their Week 14 bye at 11-2 and sitting atop the overall NFL standings. 

While speaking with reporters on Tuesday, first-year Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel was asked about the parting message he offered to his players ahead of the club's break. 

Mike Vrabel tells Patriots to enter final four games of regular season as champions would

"That we're not done," Vrabel said, per the Patriots' website. "We're not satisfied. I think champions are never satisfied. I think you can appreciate where you are, but at the same time, never be satisfied or complacent. The fine line between rest and recovery, and just being sedentary. So, there's a fine line of what we have to do to be able to come back in here, understand that just because you have a bye, that doesn't mean you're guaranteed some victory the next week in this league."

New England has notched 10 straight wins since the club suffered a 21-14 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sept. 21. Patriots quarterback Drake Maye began Wednesday as the betting favorite to win the Most Valuable Player Award for the ongoing regular season, and the New England defense produced an impressive performance as it "chose violence" against the Giants. 

The Buffalo Bills trail only the Patriots in the AFC East standings. 8-4 Buffalo hosts the Cincinnati Bengals (4-8) this coming Sunday, and the Patriots will then welcome the Bills to Gillette Stadium in Week 15. 

Mike Vrabel warns Patriots about what could happen after the bye

As of Wednesday morning, the ESPN Football Power Index gave the Patriots an 84.2 percent chance to claim the division title. Vrabel seemingly doesn't want his players focusing on that type of outside noise over the next handful of days. 

"Teams are 16-12 coming off a bye this year, so, obviously, the bye doesn't guarantee anything other than we should get some guys back that we didn't have [Monday] night, and we'll see where that goes throughout the week," Vrabel added. "Give them some time to reconnect with people that they care about, and then also be ready to focus on football and us finishing this thing."

On Wednesday, DraftKings Sportsbook had the Patriots tied for fifth among the betting favorites at +1000 odds to win Super Bowl LX. Perhaps Vrabel will use such information to remind his players that some members of the NFL community still aren't convinced New England is a legitimate championship contender ahead of Christmas.