Mike Vrabel's Patriots Are Believers-and They're Two Wins from the Promised Land
FOXBORO - Joshua Dobbs has learned a thing or two about trust in his NFL journey. When you’ve worn ten different jerseys, you figure out quickly that blind belief isn’t optional-it’s part of the job description.
You show up, you listen, you buy into the head coach’s message. Whether you’re a true believer or just playing the part doesn’t matter at first.
But eventually, that belief has to be backed by something real. Something like wins.
In New England, that belief is being fueled by a familiar face-Mike Vrabel. The former Patriots linebacker turned head coach is now two wins away from doing what once felt unthinkable: bringing the Patriots back to the Super Bowl.
The first hurdle? A playoff trip to Denver, a place where New England has never managed to win in the postseason.
But this team isn’t interested in history. They’re too busy making it.
Vrabel’s return has reignited something in Foxboro-something that feels a lot like the early 2000s. The belief he’s inspired mirrors the mindset of that 2001 Patriots team he once played for.
Back then, they weren’t supposed to be contenders. They just believed they could be.
And then they were.
But let’s be clear: this isn’t about ghosts of dynasties past. This is about what’s happening right now.
Vrabel has built something in New England that goes beyond the win-loss column. It’s a culture rooted in connection, consistency, and care. And it shows in the little moments-like when he paused preparations for the team’s biggest game in years just to sit down and talk with a new practice squad receiver.
It was early-around 7 a.m.-when Dobbs walked into the facility and saw Trent Sherfield, freshly signed, settling into a quiet corner of the locker room. Standing next to him?
Vrabel, chatting like old friends. No clipboard.
No agenda. Just a coach taking time to connect.
“Obviously this year, we’ve had the results to back up that blind belief, which makes it easy to come together,” Dobbs said. “But I think Vrabes does a tremendous job of creating a relationship with guys in the football environment and non-football environment.
And it’s not just something that’s in passing, but genuine. Whether they’re on the practice squad or the active roster, he’s breaking bread with them.”
Dobbs has seen it before. Back in 2022, he was brought into Tennessee late in the season to start two pressure-packed games during the Titans’ playoff push.
He barely had time to breathe, let alone eat. But one morning in the cafeteria, just as he sat down for breakfast, Vrabel joined him.
No football talk. Just a conversation.
A moment to connect before the grind resumed.
“(Vrabel) does all the little things,” Dobbs said. “So that even when it takes a moment of blind belief, you’re like, ‘I’ll do anything that this guy says because I know he truly cares for me and wants us as a team to succeed.’”
That connection has been a cornerstone of Vrabel’s approach in New England. During the spring, before pads ever came on, Vrabel made it a point to build trust first.
He introduced team-building exercises and started a new tradition called the “Four H’s”-hometown, heroes, heartbreaks, and hopes. Players were asked to open up and share.
Vrabel went first.
That vulnerability hit home for safety Brenden Schooler, who’s been through six different head coaches between college and the pros. He’s heard all the buzzwords-“culture,” “core values,” “play for the guy next to you.” But until Vrabel, it never felt real.
“There are a lot of programs that I’ve been a part of coming up through college, high school, all that stuff, where they talk about, ‘Do it for the man next to you.’ But you don’t know the man next to you,” Schooler said.
“After that (meeting), you’re like, ‘All right, this is for real.’ He just set the tone.”
“I was ready to run through that wall,” added receiver DeMario Douglas.
Then came training camp. The pads went on, the drills got tougher, and Vrabel didn’t shy away from the grind.
He jumped into drills. He didn’t hold back on criticism.
His sarcasm could sting, but the players knew it came from a place of honesty-and the results followed.
Through it all, Vrabel never changed. Win or lose, good day or bad, he stayed the same: honest, consistent, and invested. That kind of steady leadership is rare in the NFL, and it’s earned him the trust of a locker room that was once searching for direction.
“He just keeps answering the call, and being kind of the leader and the coach that you want to play for,” said center Garrett Bradbury. “Everyone knows who he is.
He’s pretty black and white. There’s a lot of unknowns from a player’s perspective.
Like, what are my coach’s intentions? Who are they?
What do they think of me? And you know where you stand here, which is unique in the NFL and has been refreshing, for sure.”
Now, here the Patriots are-two wins from the Super Bowl. Two wins from the place Vrabel once helped them reach as a player. Only Denver stands in the way of the next step.
It’s a path no other AFC team has walked this year. But it’s one Vrabel started paving months ago, when the wins were still just ideas and the belief was still blind.
Now? That belief has legs. And it’s carrying the Patriots toward something that once felt out of reach.
Some might call it destiny. Vrabel and his players would probably just call it the plan.