Mike Vrabel ‘not messing around’ as he prepares for 1st training camp as Patriots coach

FOXBOROUGH Mass AP Mike Vrabel was hired as New England Patriots coach seven months ago to recalibrate a club that hasn t won a playoff battle since its majority of latest Super Bowl win in the season and has slumped to - finishes the past two seasons Everything Vrabel has done from hiring his coaching staff to building out the roster through free agency and the draft has been about laying a foundation for his first season As central as all those procedures and initial spring workouts have been in the process the work begins in earnest Wednesday with the start of training camp He revealed his message to his new unit will be simple It s time to build a unit Vrabel disclosed We have to start coming together as a football group Vrabel arrived at Foxborough having shared history with each of his two predecessors winning two Super Bowls as a competitor under Bill Belichick and then playing his final season in New England alongside Belichick successor Jerod Mayo When he was hired in January Vrabel explained his initial goal would be to put together a gang capable of taking advantage of opponents when they play bad football That s still an ongoing project but one that he believes they ve made headway on We re closer than where we were in March or April when we got here I think we are Vrabel commented I think the players are starting to understand We talk about the good the bad and the stuff that gets you beat and I think that they can tell the difference between those three now Special teamer Brenden Schooler who earned his first All-Pro selection last season stated the no-nonsense vibe Vrabel has introduced is noticeable around the squad facility You re not scared but you know he s not messing around Schooler stated One thing that has helped Vrabel make an early impression is that he won t be coaching any players that have links to the Patriots the majority latest run of success Following the release of long snapper Joe Cardona in April there are no remaining players on New England s roster that were on the Super Bowl crew As he begins the process of whittling down the players that will begin camp Vrabel explained he wants to see them not just try to make the roster but carve out a role with the organization There s a lot of different levels to what those roles are and in my -year career I ve had plenty of them from special teams multiple-position backup to starter a starter that was expected to be productive to a veteran leader Vrabel noted So there s multiple levels of what that role will be and it s up to them to earn it No limits for Diggs Receiver Stefon Diggs passed his physical and will be practicing without limitations nine months after undergoing season-ending knee surgery It s just a testament to how hard he worked Vrabel mentioned Is he going to take every single rep of every single period No and I don t think any athlete will But I think we re off to a good start and encouraged by what we saw here in the last couple of days A four-time Pro Bowl selection Diggs had six straight -yard receiving seasons for the Vikings and Bills before he was traded from Buffalo to Houston last spring He had catches for yards and three touchdowns in eight games for the Texans before he tore the ACL in his right knee in October AP NFL https apnews com hub nfl