Mike Vrabel says his comments about the Patriots’ lack of depth were not aimed at Eliot Wolf or anyone else in the front office.
The head coach created some noise after Saturday’s preseason win over the Eagles when he was asked about New England’s decision to keep a long list of starters, including Drake Maye, on the sideline for a second straight week. Vrabel’s answer was blunt: “I do not think we have a very deep team, so I think we have to make sure that we are preparing our football team and that we are doing everything that we can to keep our best players available,” he told ESPN’s Mike Reiss.
That response came as many around the team expected at least some of the starters to see action in the 24-21 victory. Instead, Vrabel pointed to the bigger issue of keeping players healthy, and he also said he had not yet decided whether Maye and others would suit up against the Browns in Thursday’s preseason finale.
On Monday, Vrabel revisited the subject during his weekly appearance on WEEI’s “The Greg Hill Show,” and he made clear that his comments were about the work the whole organization has to do, not a shot at the personnel staff.
“We are the front office. We are all making the decisions.
We’re all included in this,” Vrabel replied. “It was about the young guys we have to develop.
You can see that the players we kept out of the game, those are the guys. And then we have to be able to find some guys behind them to be backups, to be the first guy in.
To be the third outside linebacker. Be the third inside linebacker.
Be the sixth offensive lineman. These things that are so critical.
Be the third safety.
“So those are the things that we are trying to develop, and I guess that’s what I was referencing,” Vrabel noted. He said that he’s spoken with executive vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf about it.
“I can walk back, and I’ve already talked to Eliot this morning, and these aren’t issues. I’m not in a subtle context - that wasn’t that,” said Vrabel. “They asked why we didn’t play the guys, and we have to have everybody we have available and then continue to develop and see some guys that went out and played like they did on Saturday night to continue to build that depth.”
Vrabel also framed the issue in broader terms, saying the Patriots will need younger players and later-round draft picks to become real depth over the course of the season.
“That’s just kind of where we were constructed and I think we can always work to improve that. You just know that through the course of the season you’re going to need so many of those guys just because things are going to happen and we have to be ready to play games without those front-line guys. That’s on us to be able to get these guys ready to go.”
The Patriots have one more preseason game left, Thursday night in Cleveland against the Browns at 8 p.m.
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