The 2025 Patriots share little resemblance to the 2024 version except that some of the team's better players remain on the squad. More 2024 players will likely be departing before the roster is finalized as Vrabel continues upgrading a dreadful 4-13 roster.
Vrabel has rebuilt almost his entire offense. In the team's first preseason game against Washington, four new players started on the offensive line. Only Mike Onwenu remains from the NFL's worst offensive line in 2024, and he's not in shape. To put an exclamation point on that unit's changes, three of the new starters are rookies. Vrabel is unmistakably putting his own stamp on this team.
Additionally, the new Head Coach and de facto personnel head has remodeled his defense in style. He jettisoned several long-time starting players who didn't fit his system and replaced them with players who do. Importantly, all those players are tough football players and playmakers.
Radio station questions whether the Patriots' practices are "soft"
The last thing Mike Vrabel wants to hear is that his team is called "soft". Yet his practices are exactly what's being questioned by Boston sports radio, which never met a controversy it didn't like to create. But that particular description must put Vrabel into orbit.
Nick O'Malley of Masslive quoted Mike Vrabel, who commented on whether his team's practices are "soft" on WEEI's "Greg Hill Show."
"Vrabel found it funny to hear questions about 'soft' practices after seeing media members shower the Patriots in praise for how the team played in its preseason opener. 'I don’t know. I mean, you guys just got done basically throwing a bunch of flowers at our play demeanor and how our guys ran and how we finished,' Vrabel said. 'I think that there’s a plan to everything.'"
O'Malley further noted that the number of Vrabel's walkthrough practices has fueled this speculation. Granted, sports radio thrives on any type of controversy related to Boston's major sports teams. But to suggest that anything about Mike Vrabel's team or regimen is "soft" is a stretch, to say the least.
The 2025 Patriots will push toughness to the limit
One thing the 2025 Patriots team won't be is soft. Vrabel will be all over any players who don't finish plays or go through the motions. If it's a habit, expect those players to be plying their wares elsewhere in 2025 and beyond.
Mistaking player conservation for "softness" is silly. The NFL demands enough in real games to put any of your players at unnecessary risk. Mike Vrabel is in his seventh year as an NFL Head Coach, and is well aware of that fact. He won't foolishly risk injuries when it's not necessary. It's in the games that toughness matters, and we've already seen that after one preseason game.
Look no further than Will Campbell, especially in his run blocking. While dwelling on the phony issue of his arm length and narrow shoulders, Boston media types neglected to see how the rookie played at LSU and what he's already displayed in his one game as an NFL left tackle.
One play, a nice gain by TreVeyon Henderson, exhibited Campbell's "softness" nicely. Campbell went to the second level to open up running space for the Patriots' explosive rookie running back in style. He took on a completely mismatched defensive back and blocked him nearly 15 yards upfield, finishing his block(s) with an emphatic pancake that that defensive back won't soon forget.
That play defines what the 2025 Patriots will be under new coach Mike Vrabel. What happens in a run-of-the-mill practice is irrelevant. It's the games that count. Expect Campbell to be the archetypal Mike Vrabel player, finishing blocks in pass-protection and even more emphatically in run blocking with pizzazz. Watch that, and then refer to anything about the Patriots as "soft".