New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel pulled out a familiar motivational phrase in Patriot lore ahead of a Week 14 win over the New York Giants.
It worked quite well as quarterback Drake Maye sees it. Vrabel donned a vest with the phrase “no naps,” a spin-off of former head coach Bill Belichick’s “no days off” approach during the team’s dynasty in the 2000s and 2010s, which Vrabel was a part of.
“I think it was perfect with Coach saying, “no naps.” You want to come in here and start fast,” Maye told reporters after a 33-15 victory over the Giants on Monday night. “This team has been up in a lot of games, and they got good players over there and some good talent.”
“We wanted to try to get on them fast, and Marcus (Jones) helped us with that. What a return for him. And the kickoff return — I mean kickoff coverage. And I think all phases of the game showed up at different points of the game,” Maye continued. “And I still think, offensively, the second half, we have to put more drives together to put the game out of reach.”
Jones’ 94-yard punt return for a touchdown gave the Patriots a 10-0 lead and things only improved from there early on. Maye followed up with a 3-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Kayshon Boutte for a 17-0 lead, and the Patriot never let the Giants get closer than 10 points the rest of the way.
Patriots Took Advantage of New Giants Coordinator
GettyDrake Maye carved up the Giants defense on Monday.
The Giants fired defensive coordinator Shane Bowen on Nov. 23 after another blown lead, which led to linebackers coach Charlie Bullen becoming the new defensive coordinator. In Bullen’s first game, the Patriots attacked with 395 yards of total offense, and Maye cruised with 24-31 passing for 282 yards and two touchdowns.
“I think we had some play designs that Coach had, and we practiced all week that worked,” Maye said. “And I think that’s the biggest thing, is that we knew they had a new coordinator calling it for the first time, so they’re going to bring some stuff that we didn’t expect.”
“I think we tried to handle guys up front, had a great rush, great players up front. I thought the guys did that all night,” Maye continued. “The one sack we had was my fault. I think from there, Coach saying no naps. I think we did a better job in the second half of living that and putting them out of reach and getting across midfield and putting the drive together to score a touchdown.”
Mike Vrabel Addresses Team’s Energy After Win
Vrabel felt his team came out with the energy needed to get a win before a long-awaited bye week. The Patriots are one of four teams to get a Week 14 bye, which is the latest a team can have a bye this season.
“Well, I’m happy to be at the bye,” Vrabel told reporters afterwards. “Happy to be where we’re at. Continue to improve. We have to finish better, but at least we came out ready to go. We focused on being aggressive and attacking and keeping that mindset. And I think we did.”
Mike Vrabel’s Demand Of Patriots is Perfect, QB Drake Maye Says