Josh Alper ,
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Mike Vrabel was a player for the Patriots when they decided to do away with individual player introductions before their Super Bowl XXXVI win over the Rams to cap the 2001 season and that tradition held until Sunday’s game against the Browns.
Vrabel opted to have the offense introduced before the game, which quarterback Drake Maye said made him a little nervous because he has “literally no swag” but the result of the game showed that it didn’t throw the team off too much. The Patriots rolled to a 32-13 win that improved their record to 6-2 and Vrabel said after the game that he hoped to build energy at Gillette Stadium by giving the players a moment in the spotlight.
“Just feel like these guys put a lot into it and would like to recognize him individually,” Vrabel said, via a transcript from the team. “Hopefully our fans can embrace that and get excited for them. It’s something that I felt like we wanted to do, create some energy early and get them to recognize the players’ efforts, and allow these fans to support us, which they did. It was getting loud on third down. We’ve got to continue to play hard for them so that they cheer for us.”
Vrabel was brought in to restore the Patriots’ luster after it was dulled in the final years of Bill Belichick’s tenure and in a dismal 2024 with Jerod Mayo coaching the team. The team’s record speaks well of that effort and Sunday’s change to gameday operations shows that Vrabel is not going to shy away from putting his own stamp on anything associated with the franchise.
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