Mike Vrabel on the AFC Championship game weather, Drake Maye’s shoulder, and references to ‘The Warriors’

Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel stopped by WEEI’s “The Greg Hill Show” on Tuesday morning after the team made its return from Denver following the AFC Championship game win over the weekend.

Now Super Bowl bound, Vrabel discussed a range of topics in his weekly interview.

Here’s a quick rundown:

The Sunday snow in Denver.

After the Patriots notched a field goal on the opening possession of the second half, no other points were scored in the eventual 10-7 grinding victory over the Broncos.

Part of the explanation for both offenses struggling — beyond the quality of the opposing defenses — was the onset of a snowstorm.

“The wind was a factor, and then it was kind of a wet snow,” said Vrabel of the challenging conditions.

“The footing was interesting,” he added. “Those are just things that you to be ready for, and try to plan for, and adjust accordingly.”

Asked by former Patriots tight end Jermaine Wiggins (now a WEEI co-host) about why players weren’t wearing specialized “seven stud” cleats for the conditions, Vrabel joked about the age gap.

“It’s impossible to try to get these guys [to wear them]. They never use them growing up,” he said of the different cleats. “It’s like telling them to stay off their phones.”

Drake Maye’s end-of-game improvisation

As the Patriots tried to clinch the game by getting one more first down, second-year quarterback Drake Maye opted improvise and run the ball himself around the edge.

Vrabel was asked if he was “mad” about the decision (as Maye predicted he might be).

“No,” Vrabel replied. “Where the timeouts were and everything else, there are certain times where you’re OK getting out of bounds if you get a first down. There are times where we’d definitely like to stay in-bounds, but if you’re in that situation, resetting the downs with them [not having] any timeouts, then we’re good to go there.”

Does he have a problem with Maye freelancing on the called play?

“No he doesn’t go rogue,” Vrabel explained. “Those aren’t things that does. We discuss those things. Josh [McDaniels] and I talk him through, and what want to do in five-minute [situations], plays that we have available, and those are always things that we can go to. Just trying to get everybody on the same page, and Drake was able to do that, and used his legs.”

A component of Vrabel’s head coaching style (even before coming to New England) was taking a page from Bill Belichick, and making sure that his team has an advantage in less common situations throughout the game.

Practicing “situational football” was a Belichick staple, and is also something Vrabel takes seriously. Still, he explained how he tried to not overwhelm players with various scenarios.

“Yeah I mean I think that’s one thing that I’m certainly proud of,” he said of the team’s preparedness. “We didn’t start doing those until training camp, just because I thought there was so much to do in the offseason that you don’t want to bog them down with all of these — I hate to call them one-timers. As critical as they are, you just don’t want to bog them down because some guys become obsessed with it. Certainly I’ve been down that rabbit hole.

“What’s too much?” Vrabel asked. “Are you going to take a hurry-up safety, you know what I mean? There’s under four minutes and you get sacked inside the five-yard line, and you’re down. You should run the punt team out there and take a safety, but you just line the offense up and hurry up and take a safety. These things like, ‘OK that could happen. It’s never happened, but it could.’”

The other part of the process was getting players to trust in each other, and their problem-solving skills.

“Then we got into training camp and started to build, and some of it didn’t look good,” Vrabel said of the situational practicing. “I just said, ‘Hey, bear with this. Just stay with it. Trust me, I’ve been through this.’ I’ve seen young players — I’ve seen all different players — not get it at first, not understand what the situation is. You just have to be willing to talk, answer the question, figure it out, trial and error. And then we got better at it.”

Players finding ways to stay motivated

After Patriots players (most notably Milton Williams) inevitably responded to prior rankings or predictions that placed New England lower than past opponents (including the Broncos), Vrabel was questioned about players comments about the subplot in the media.

“However they have to get ready to play the football game, that’s all I care about,” he said.

Does he feel the team has been “disrespected” by prognosticators?

“It doesn’t matter. We’re in the Super Bowl,” Vrabel pointed out. “We can pump this thing up for 10 days. We’re all compensated very well for what we do, so I don’t think there’s any disrespect from this building or my appreciation for our football team. It doesn’t bother me.”

The role of former Jets defensive lineman Leonard Taylor

A major play was made in the AFC Championship game by a reserve defensive lineman Leonard Taylor, when he tipped an attempted Broncos field goal with his outstretched hand.

Taylor, who went undrafted in 2024, was cut by the Jets in October. Signed initially to the Patriots’ practice squad, his role has grown over time.

“Lenny T revenge game Week 7, it lives on,” Vrabel joked. “Started with the Jets revenge game and now we have just built on it. It’s the stuff that we find, really happy for him.”

The Patriots didn’t actually face the Jets until Week 11 (Week 7 was perhaps another revenge game of sorts for Vrabel, as New England beat the Titans 31-13).

“He’s a great kid,” Vrabel added of Taylor. “We’ve talked about everybody’s journey to their career looks a little differently. He was with the Jets, we were able to pick him up. Loved his attitude, his willingness to work and try to make some plays and help this team, and he made another one.”

The references to “The Warriors”

The Patriots, led by Vrabel, have made several references to the 1979 cult classic “The Warriors” in recent weeks. Asked if anyone understood the reference prior to the season, Vrabel laughed.

“There wasn’t a single [one]. I had to show them the video,” he said. “I had to actually show the movie.”

The Patriots’ coach clarified that this happened “a while ago,” but that the team’s interest in it has persisted.

“I’m like let’s see how this goes, and then next thing you know they’re walking around the building we’ve got guys with like the soy sauce bottles [clicking them together],” Vrabel said (in another reference to the movie). “Then Mack [Hollins] goes and buys the little beer bottles and empties them out.”