The New England Patriots suffered a 13-10 defeat in their season opener on Wednesday night in a Super Bowl rematch against the Seattle Seahawks. Offensively, Drake Maye and the rest of his unit didn’t look fully ready to go. Maye threw three picks while A.J. Brown suffered an ankle sprain, Romeo Doubs made multiple costly drops, and the O-line was shaky.
Since the game, Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel has faced criticism for keeping most of the offensive starters out for the preseason. Analysts and fans have slammed the Pats for not giving their starters a chance to adjust to game speed before the regular season commenced.
Vrabel appeared for his weekly sit-down with “The Greg Hill Show” on Monday morning and defended his decision not to play the starters in the preseason.
“I don’t know what else to tell you… I have to make a decision. I don’t know how much we want to get into this. They get hurt, ‘Oh, that dumb son of a b—-. Why is he playing them in the preseason?’ There’s nothing we can do other than play better,” Vrabel said.
Vrabel Defends Decision to Hold Starters out in Preseason
Vrabel and the Patriots looked less prepared than most hoped they would be in a rematch against the Seattle team that crushed their Super Bowl dreams last February.
But, by Vrabel’s logic, whether Maye and the offensive starters played in the preseason or not wouldn’t have changed the outcome of the season opener.
“Going out there against the Eagles backups at home, for eight plays or 10 plays, wasn’t going to prepare us for the environment that we had on opening night,” Vrabel said. “The work that we did prior to that game did much to prepare us that day than playing in that game… We weren’t going to see the same type of defense, we weren’t going to see any of that stuff. That’s just what I think. And if we wouldn’t played better, ‘Ah, that was great. They didn’t throw interceptions.'”
“Results-based analytics is tough. We have to make decisions. We have to be convicted in them, and we have to feel like we’re well-informed with the decisions that we’re making and then go and believe in them and make them work,” Vrabel said.
Patriots Gear Up For Week Two Showdown With Steelers
Because the Patriots season opener came on a Wednesday, New England has 10 days to prepare for the Steelers this weekend. This should be an advantage for the Pats, as they’ll have plenty of time to dissect Pittsburgh’s week one victory over the Atlanta Falcons.
Maye’s QB counterpart will be Aaron Rodgers, 18 years his senior. Rodgers had a decent start against Atlanta, completing 24/40 passes for 221 yards and a touchdown. The Steelers have largely the same offensive look roster-wise as they did last year when they defeated the Patriots in September, one of only three New England losses on the year.
New England is favored by 5.5 points as Pittsburgh ventures east to Foxborough for a showdown between iconic franchises.
Mike Vrabel Defends Decision Not to Play Patriots’ Starters During Preseason