New England Patriots
“We got a lot more days ahead of us. We got a lot more football left in our program.”
Mike Vrabel embraced his players after Sunday’s loss in Super Bowl LX. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
All season long, Mike Vrabel made it a postgame tradition of greeting his players and embracing them — win or lose — as they made their way into the Patriots locker room.
That routine carried on Sunday, even as the Patriots’ 2025 season came to a crushing end in Super Bowl LX against the Seattle Seahawks.
The NFL released video from New England’s 29-13 loss to Seattle, which included clips of a dejected Vrabel waiting in the tunnel for his players to return from the field at Levi’s Stadium as green-and-blue confetti rained down on them.
Despite that disheartening end to an improbable run, Vrabel preacched unity and a focus on looking ahead as he greeted his forlorn players after that defeat.
“Three-hundred and seven days. We just played 307 days.” Vrabel said as players like Ben Brown and Will Campbell made their way into the locker room. “We got a lot more days ahead of us. We got a lot more football left in our program.”
The camera then caught Vrabel leaning against the wall in a moment to himself before greeting veteran Morgan Moses in the tunnel.
“Look at me. Appreciate you. Okay. So glad you’re here,” Vrabel told the 34-year-old Moses. “This [expletive] sucks. But we got to be pissed together. You hear me?”
“We ain’t done,” he added as he shook Milton Williams’ hand.
“Yes sir,” Williams replied. “We just started.”
Despite Sunday’s defeat, the 2025 season was still a resounding success for Vrabel and the Patriots. Fresh off a four-win season in 2024, New England won 14 regular-season games and captured the AFC East in Vrabel’s first year as head coach with his former team.
Speaking to reporters Tuesday, Vrabel again preached optimism when it comes to New England’s young roster building off of this 2025 season moving forward.
“I just talked about a disappointing finish to a phenomenal, exciting, enjoyable year. It’s unfortunate,” Vrabel said. “Talked to them about the foundation I think that we’ve built.
“Much like a home, you build a home and then run out of things to do, so you continue to add on to it, you finish the basement, you make additions to it, and we’ll try to do that to this football team. I like the foundation of it, and we’ll try to improve on it.”
Conor Ryan is a staff writer covering the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox for Boston.com, a role he has held since 2023.
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