Patriots coach Mike Vrabel drew a rare unsportsmanlike conduct penalty Sunday, handing the Buffalo Bills 15 yards on the way to a tying touchdown.
The flag erased a third-down stop and raised the possibility that the NFL will fine Vrabel for his choice words aimed at an official.
A holding call on cornerback Marcus Jones started the sequence. Vrabel’s reaction drew the second flag, assessed for language directed at the official.
Vrabel’s Rare Unsportsmanlike Penalty
“That’s a fucking terrible fucking call,” Vrabel yelled at an official, according to Boston Herald reporter Zack Cox.
Cox called it a “rare ‘unsportsmanlike conduct on the head coach’ penalty.”
“A third-down stop then becomes a Bills touchdown. 14-14,” according to Pats Pulpit‘s Brian Hines.
Unsportsmanlike conduct costs 15 yards and, on defense, brings an automatic first down.
After the flags, Buffalo had a first-and-goal from the 7-yard line with New England ahead 14-7 and 1:40 left in the second quarter.
Unsportsmanlike conduct is described as “usually a player but occasionally a coach and very rarely” a spectator, according to the NFLPenalties.com season tracker.
No public count of head-coach flags exists. Accepted unsportsmanlike penalties of all kinds, nearly all on players, numbered 25 in 2023, 42 in 2024 and 39 in 2025.
From 1999 to 2022, unsportsmanlike conduct made up about 1.3 percent of all infractions, according to a UC Press analysis.
When coaches draw flags, it usually involves the restricted white border or entering the field, not offensive language. Sean Payton drew one Nov. 16, 2025, for colliding with an official in the white stripe, according to SI.com.
Verbal abuse of officials falls under the rule, and two such penalties can bring ejection, according to the Sporting News.
“Pretty rare that NFL head coaches get flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct,” Pro Football Talk‘s Michael David Smith wrote in 2023.
Mike Vrabel Fine Precedent
No fine has been announced. The league office would decide after film review, with announcements posted the following Saturday.
Coaches fall outside the player system. Players face fines set by foul type in the collective bargaining agreement, capped at 10 percent of a game check for a first offense, according to the NFL Players Association.
The commissioner disciplines coaches at his discretion under league rules.
Sean Payton and Pete Carroll each paid $10,000 in 2017 after flags for improperly entering the field, according to USA Today.
John Harbaugh paid $15,000 in 2010 for contact with an official, according to Reuters.
Mike Tomlin paid $100,000 in 2013 for straying near the field during a kick return, though officials threw no flag, according to Sporting News.
The Patriots have not disclosed Vrabel’s contract, which began with his Jan. 12, 2025, hiring. Estimates put his pay near $14 million a year, according to Pro Football Network.
On that salary, a $10,000 fine equals about 0.07 percent of one year’s pay, $25,000 equals 0.18 percent, and $100,000 equals 0.7 percent.
Nothing has been assessed, so Vrabel’s only cost so far is the 15 yards and the touchdown that followed.
Will Patriots Mike Vrabel Get NFL Punishment For Unusual Bills Penalty?