Mike Vrabel made it plain on Wednesday: he wasn’t interested in turning Romeo Doubs into a personality discussion.
A reporter asked the Patriots coach about Doubs’ personality, and Vrabel shut it down fast. The reaction in the room said plenty, and the clip moved quickly because the answer was as sharp as the expression on his face.
“You guys can get to know Romeo the best that you want,” Vrabel said. “I’m not going to have conversations about our players when they’re in the locker room. You want to get to know Romeo, you can go in there and introduce yourself to him.”
The question landed four days after New England opened the season with a 13-10 loss to the Seahawks, a game in which Doubs finished with zero catches on three targets and dropped a ball that would have gone for a long gain. Doubs didn’t hide from it afterward.
“I just wasn’t locked in, that’s all,” he said. “The video speaks for itself.”
Vrabel had already taken a similar stance on Monday when asked about the drop. “He dropped a pass,” the coach said.
“Everybody drops a pass, everybody misses a tackle. You talk to him the same way you always talk to him.
Figure out a way to make a play to help us win.”
That message didn’t change on Wednesday, even with the question shifting from performance to personality. If anything, Vrabel seemed more annoyed by the extra layer than by the mistake itself.
Doubs signed a four-year, $68 million deal in March after four seasons in Green Bay. The Patriots were counting on him as a complement for A.J.
Brown and as a red-zone option for Drake Maye. But Brown went down in the opener, and the receiver room thinned out quickly.
Now Doubs is the player who has to deliver Sunday against Pittsburgh.
Vrabel has also shown he has little patience for questions that drift away from football. Earlier this month, he brushed off Russini talk in similar fashion: “No, I don’t have any reaction. We’re moved on.”
The Patriots are 0-1, Maye threw three interceptions in Seattle, and Vrabel has still backed his quarterback publicly. Doubs, meanwhile, has one drop on tape and a coach who isn’t interested in making it a character story.
The Patriots host the Steelers on Sunday.
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