Patriots players admit obvious about Mike Vrabel after win over Titans

Leading up to Sunday's game between the New England Patriots and Tennessee Titans, first-year New England head coach Mike Vrabel did all he could to downplay the storyline related to his facing the club that unceremoniously fired him in January 2024 after he spent six seasons in charge.

After the Patriots improved to 5-2 on the season via an impressive 31-13 win at Tennessee's Nissan Stadium, multiple New England players admitted they had some extra motivation to play for Vrabel before the contest kicked off. 

Patriots players wanted to have Mike Vrabel's back for Tennessee return

"It’s a big win for him coming back to where he used to be," Patriots wide receiver Kayshon Boutte said about Vrabel, per Mark Daniels of MassLive. "I know it means a lot to him. He might not say it, but I know it truly does. I think we did a good job of just having his back, supporting him."

Vrabel guided the Titans to the AFC Championship Game held in January 2020, won the Associated Press Coach of the Year Award for the 2021 season and went 54-45 across his six campaigns with the Titans before he was shown the door after he endured back-to-back losing seasons. Tennessee hasn't yet found Vrabel's long-term replacement, as the club fired then-head coach Brian Callahan on Oct. 13. 

"Just having your coach’s back," fellow receiver Stefon Diggs said about what Patriots players hoped to accomplish for Vrabel on Sunday. "It means a lot. People in this league have been around a lot of different places. It’s kind of a sensitive topic for everybody. ...He’s a humble coach. He’s not going to make it 'bout himself. He’s going to make it about the players. For us, it is always personal, especially [when] it’s one of our guys. It’s part of having our guys back."

Patriots players wanted Mike Vrabel to have last laugh over Titans

With under 1:30 remaining in regulation of Sunday's contest, loud "Vrabel" chants were heard inside a stadium that was filled with Patriots and Titans fans at the time. According to Karen Guregian of MassLive, New England center Garrett Bradbury said after the win that Sunday "felt like a home game for us." 

Meanwhile, Patriots defensive end Milton Williams indicated Vrabel will do everything possible to ensure any and all victory laps regarding the Week 7 result are wrapped up by Monday afternoon. 

"It was big," Williams added about getting the win for Vrabel. "Of course, we know he came from here. I don’t know what happened over there, but he’s our coach now. Every week, he’s on our a— during the week to make sure we’re ready for the moment. It didn’t matter if we were coming back here. That’s every week. We’re trying to get a win every week. All the players knew we were coming back to where he was. We wanted to go out and get a win for him."

Williams and Co. will look to continue winning for Vrabel when New England hosts the Cleveland Browns (2-5) this coming Sunday. As of Monday morning, ESPN BET had the Patriots as 7.5-point home favorites for that matchup.