Dont’a Hightower has perfect takeaway from watching Mike Vrabel’s Patriots highlights
By Jerry Trotta
The New England Patriots‘ Week 12 clash against the Tennessee Titans is a game featuring maybe the two best teams in the AFC.
With the Titans down a handful of playmakers on offense — including Derrick Henry, Julio Jones and maybe AJ Brown — this could turn into a defensive slugfest.
That could play right into Tennessee’s hand, as Mike Vrabel, at least before Week 11, had his defense firing on all cylinders.
Vrabel is well-known around these parts. Putting his coaching resume aside, he was very much the anchor of three Super Bowl-winning New England defenses, which was the team’s identity in the early 2000s.
How significant of a figure is Vrabel?
Well, let’s just say Dont’a Hightower has watched a good amount of his tape from his time in Foxborough. While previewing Sunday’s matchup, Hightower delivered a response that perfectly encapsulated Vrabel’s playing style.
Dont'a Hightower on what Mike Vrabel's tape with the #Patriots looks like: "it looks like he sets the damn edge."
— Evan Lazar (@ezlazar) November 23, 2021
Patriots LB Dont’a Hightower had high praise for Mike Vrabel
In many ways, Vrabel embodies what has made Belichick such a revered coaching mind.
After all, he was brought in as a low-profile free agent signing before the 2001 season and morphed into a perennial impact defender on some iconic Patriots teams, including the 2003 and 2004 squads that won back-to-back championships and finished a combined 28-4 during the regular season.
Vrabel didn’t become a weekly starter until 2004, but he appeared in all but three games during his eight years with New England. During that span, he racked up 606 tackles (55 for loss), 48 sacks, 11 interceptions, 13 forced fumbles, 34 pass breakups and 33 quarterback hits.
Those stats are impressive, but they don’t even begin to describe what Vrabel meant to the Patriots’ defense. He was a foundational piece and set the tone in games with his dogged style of play, though he certainly wasn’t alone in that regard.
Vrabel: The @Patriots are playing well. They've won five in a row, have the No.1 scoring defense in the league, they are playing well on offense, and they're well coached. It will be a huge challenge@TItans
— Jim Wyatt (@jwyattsports) November 22, 2021
Like most players who run their course in New England, however, Belichick didn’t hesitate unloading Vrabel when he thought he squeezed every last bit of elite-level production out of him. Following the 2008 campaign, two years removed from his All-Pro season, Vrabel was traded to the Chiefs.
Ironically enough, Vrabel spent two years in Arrowhead before he called it a career. Despite appearing in 30 of a possible 32 regular season games for Kansas City, Vrabel managed just four tackles for loss, two sacks and three forced fumbles.
Shocker. Belichick knew just went to ship Vrabel out of town … or exactly how to utilize him.
In all seriousness, Vrabel is a legend in the eyes of Patriots fans, and Hightower’s quote indicates he’l be out to send a message to the Titans’ HC.
If you remember (how could you not!?) Hightower and Co. have unfinished business with Vrabel’s Titans after they eliminated the Patriots and Tom Brady in their own backyard in the 2019 playoffs.
