Jahlani Tavai captured Mike Vrabel’s Year 1 impact with one epic quote

Mike Vrabel has harped on the importance of complementary football this season, and through eight games, his New England Patriots have been one of the NFL’s shining examples.

Quarterback Drake Maye leads the NFL in completion percentage (75.2), while also sitting third in yards per pass attempt (9.0); he’s a big reason why the Patriots enter Week 9 ranked eighth overall in scoring offense (26.6 per game).

The defense, meanwhile, is both creating turnovers and limiting points at an elite rate. The Patriots rank tied for fifth in total takeaways (11) and are top-five in average points allowed (18.3).

No defensive stat stands out more, though, than New England’s work against the rush. The Patriots rank second in opponent yards per attempt (3.5) and haven't allowed a single running back to gain 50-plus yards in a game this season.

Vrabel’s personnel additions, like Milton Williams, Khyiris Tonga and Robert Spillane, have certainly helped in that area, but the shift in mindset and physicality on defense this season has been undeniable. 

New England Patriots linebacker Jahlani Tavai dropped an incredible quote on the team’s ascending defense

There was some speculation this summer on linebacker Jahlani Tavai and whether his spot on the Patriots’ 53-man roster was secure,

It turns out Tavai was tailor made to play in Vrabel’s defense.

He’s been a part-time player since getting activated off injured reserve in Week 5, but Tavai easily had his most impactful game of the season in Sunday’s rout of the Cleveland Browns; the veteran only played 12 snaps, per Pro Football Focus, but he finished the game with five total tackles, two run stuffs, and one tackle for loss.

The Browns have a hard time winning games when they can't run the football, and Sunday was another hard one for Cleveland. Star rookie running back Qunishon Judkins was stonewalled by the Patiots for 19 yards on nine carries, and according to Christopher Price of the Boston Herald, he refused to meet with reporters after the game.

Price did speak with Tavai on Sunday — and the linebacker's words spoke volumes on the Mike Vrabel effect in Foxboro through eight weeks.

“We’ve just got to continue to play with our hair on fire. It’s a scary thing when you see just 11 defensive players running and trying to tear a guy’s face off, you know? It’s something that we pride ourselves on, and we’re going to make sure that we just continue to execute it in practice — so that in the game, it becomes reality.”

As Mark Schlereth said during the Patriots-Browns TV broadcast on Sunday, Vrabel’s superpower is his ability to build relationships, and he’s getting full buy-in right now from a young team that’s climbed to 6-2 and sits second in the AFC standings.  

It was around this point of the season last year when ex-Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo called the team “soft” following a loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars in London. That the team has pulled off a literal 180 just one year later says everything about the new regime.