Patriots' Mike Vrabel Reveals Minicamp Goals

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The New England Patriots returned to the practice fields adjacent to Gillette Stadium on Monday, as they opened the final phase of their offseason workout program.

Patriots mandatory minicamp 2025 is now underway. As will be the case with many of this year’s season milestones, head coach Mike Vrabel is conducting his first as the Patriots’ top option on the coaching depth chart. With offseason workout phases 1 and 2 firmly behind them, Vrabel and the Patriots are now ready to fine tune their preparations in advance of the start of training camp in late July.

In fact, the new “HC of the NEP” was clear on his objectives heading into the team’s final phase of offseason workouts.

“This is just an extension of the last 9 or 10 days that we’ve had on the field,” Vrabel told reporters just prior to the start of Monday’s practice. "It’s going to look the same…we’re going to continue with our installation, put 1st, 2nd, 3rd down together and move into the red zone.”

Though major changes to their on-field program are not expected, one notable difference between minicamp and OTA sessions is the mandatory nature of their attendance. Vrabel revealed that while a handful of players may be absent “for personal reasons,” he added that the Patriots “do not have any contract-related holdouts, if that’s what you’re asking.”

From the moment he took the reins in January as the franchise’s 16th head coach, Vrabel has made it clear that his leadership style will attempt to once again instill a culture of hard work, collaboration and accountability. The 49-year-old has vowed to remove the “entitlement” from the team and thus create an aura of self-responsibility. As such, New England’s front office has worked diligently to stack its roster with high-quality, high-character players, to ensure that Vrabel’s message must not only be heard, but unconditionally embraced by his team to succeed.

Mandatory minicamp practices are seldom indicative of a team’s regular-season performance. However, the sessions are expected to provide insight on its potential. While Vrabel acknowledged that player evaluation will be taking place over the next few days, any decisions to be made at key “battleground” positions will not be made until players begin padded practices during training camp.

“We’ll be able to evaluate [players] once we get into training camp training camp, Vrabel added. “We’re moving a lot of guys through there … This is especially true of the linemen. We can start making decisions there once we can evaluate players with their pads on.”

Originally scheduled to take place from June 9-11, a Patriots On SI source confirmed on Monday morning that the Patriots have shortened mandatory minicamp from three days to two days — Monday June 2 and Tuesday June 3. Players will be in the facility Wednesday, but they will not practice.