Patriots' Mike Vrabel on Jaxson Dart hit: 'Sometimes the best answer is violence'

The top defensive highlight of the New England Patriots' 33-15 victory over the New York Giants on Monday night involved Patriots linebacker Christian Elliss delivering a crunching hit on Giants rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart in the game's first quarter. 

Dart was on his feet and in bounds, which is why Elliss wasn't flagged for the body blow. During a Tuesday appearance on Boston sports radio station WEEI, first-year Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel was asked about how his players dealt with Dart. 

Patriots chose "violence" in win over Giants

"I just appreciate how they came out," Vrabel said about the New England defense, per Hayden Bird of Boston.com. "They were aggressive. It’d been a while since we’d played, and it just was a long week. We talked about attacking, and [being] aggressive, and saying, 'Hey, if they’re going to run the quarterback, or they’re going to run a gadget play, it’s hard to scheme these gadget plays up. Sometimes the best answer is violence,' and some of those guys chose that, and it was good to see." 

Shortly after Monday's game wrapped up, Patriots players discussed how the legal hit on Dart proved to be "a tone-setter." The Patriots ended the quarter holding a 17-0 lead and then took a 30-7 advantage into halftime. 

"We know on quarterback slides, they’re protected, and we have to go in making sure that he’s down and giving himself up, and we’re not hitting him in the head or neck. We coach that all the time," Vrabel continued. "We know that that’s what happens. The quarterbacks are going to slide late, they’re protected. We can say anything we want about it. We just have to understand what they’re calling and what we have to do. But if there’s a football player running down the sidelines, we’re going to have to hit him."

What Drake Maye can learn from Jaxson Dart incident

Similar to Dart, Patriots quarterback Drake Maye has been told that he must remember when to get down while trying to make plays with his legs. On Tuesday, Vrabel indicated that the Elliss-Dart incident could serve as a useful teaching tool for Maye. 

"We go through this every week on the Friday tape," Vrabel added. "We put it on there, and whatever quarterback of the week, it happens twice a week. They’re over there prancing around, and you’re going to get hit. We showed that to Drake, and our defenders are being coached the same way. When I say we better not get cute over there by the sideline because this is legal, I turn around and tell the defense, 'If this is happening, we need to try to knock the s— out of him as legally as possible.'" 

Following the Patriots' Week 14 bye, they will face the Buffalo Bills in Week 15 and the Baltimore Ravens in Week 16. Perhaps Vrabel was sending a message to Buffalo's Josh Allen and Baltimore's Lamar Jackson regarding what those signal-callers can expect when they go up against the New England defense later in December.