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Mike Vrabel fielded awkward question about Patriots player he just released

Originally posted on Larry Brown Sports | By Grey Papke | Last updated Jan 23, 2026 8:20 PM ET

New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel dryly dealt with an awkward question Friday about a player he had just made the decision to release.

The Patriots on Jan. 14 added veteran defensive end Darrell Taylor to their practice squad, seemingly for depth and experience. On Friday, the Patriots opted to release Taylor, but that transaction had not yet been made public when a reporter asked Vrabel how Taylor was acclimating to the team.

“Yeah. We released Darrell Taylor. We’ll put that out here at 4:00. So not very well,” Vrabel said.

Reporter: “How's Darrell Taylor gotten acclimated so far?”

Mike Vrabel: "Uhhhh. Yeah. We released Darrell Taylor. We’ll put that out here at 4:00. So not very well.” pic.twitter.com/hR9ysMWzQz
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) January 23, 2026

Presumably, Vrabel meant no harm. The reporter could not have known about Taylor’s release, and the coach had to be brutally honest to a fault. On the other hand, Vrabel has never been afraid to be critical of former players even after releasing them, so maybe he really did want to send a message.

Ultimately, Vrabel’s primary focus is on preparing for Sunday’s AFC Championship game against Denver. Taylor was unlikely to heavily feature in those preparations whether he was on the team or not, so the question was likely always going to get a brisk response from Vrabel.

This article first appeared on Larry Brown Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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