New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel. Tina MacIntyre-Yee/Democrat and Chronicle/USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Patriots' Mike Vrabel expands on emotional win over Titans

By Zac Wassink | Last updated Oct 20, 2025 12:13 PM ET

Shortly after the New England Patriots improved to 5-2 on the season via an impressive 31-13 victory at the Tennessee Titans on Sunday, multiple New England players made it known they were motivated to get a big win against the franchise that fired head coach Mike Vrabel in January 2024.

During a Monday morning appearance on Boston sports radio station WEEI, Vrabel expanded on what his return to Tennessee's Nissan Stadium meant to him and his current club.

Mike Vrabel praises Patriots players for handling of revenge spot vs. Titans

"There was a lot to that week, and I think our guys handled it really well," Vrabel explained, per Hayden Bird of The Boston Globe. "...It was good to go back there. The people that I really enjoyed seeing were the ones in the support staff, and the people that have been there for a while, that were there with us, who I’d seen a lot of. So it was just good to see their faces."

Vrabel is quite familiar with those faces and with some who are in the Titans locker room, as he spent six seasons serving as Tennessee's head coach. Over that time, he guided the franchise to the AFC Championship Game held in January 2020 and won the Associated Press Coach of the Year Award for the 2021 campaign.

Last week, second-year Patriots quarterback Drake Maye insisted that Vrabel tried to keep things behind the scenes as normal as possible ahead of the Week 7 showdown in Tennessee. Following Sunday's win, Maye presented Vrabel with a game ball:

Wherever. Whenever. pic.twitter.com/slJ5g7uJEq
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) October 19, 2025

"I appreciate it," Vrabel said Monday about that gesture. "I’m happy for these guys. I’m happy that they can see success. They can feel it, and they’re excited. A lot of great personal achievements, and most importantly, the team achievement."

How Mike Vrabel changed Patriots' culture in one offseason

Back in January, numerous stories mentioned that Vrabel could quickly improve the culture of a Patriots team that missed the playoffs four times across the previous five seasons. On Monday, he spoke about how he accomplished that goal in a single offseason.

"Just try to be authentic," Vrabel said, per Lauren Campbell of MassLive. "Hire good people, knowledgeable people. Make connections with the players, make connections with the people in the building, and that’s just what we’re trying to do. And winning. That brings morale up."

One of those hires was offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, who has helped Maye make drastic improvements from where the 23-year-old was in the final days of his rookie campaign. New England next hosts the Cleveland Browns (2-5) on Oct. 26. As of Monday afternoon, ESPN BET had the Patriots as 7.5-point favorites for that contest.

Zac Wassink

Zac Wassink is a longtime sports news writer and PFWA member who began his career in 2006 and has had his work featured on Yardbarker, MSN, Yahoo Sports and Bleacher Report. He is also a football and futbol aficionado who is probably yelling about Tottenham Hotspur at the moment and who chanted for Matt Harvey to start the ninth inning of Game 5 of the 2015 World Series at Citi Field. You can find him on X at @ZacWassink

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