Morning Sports Update
“There’s a lot for us to be thankful for. This football team and the people that are around here.”
Inside the Patriots’ locker room: Following his team’s most recent win, Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel took a blunt view of pursuing success in the NFL.
“This s*** isn’t easy,” said Vrabel after the 26-20 win over the Bengals. “I want you to understand that.”
Speaking to his players in the locker room, Vrabel alluded to the toll injuries had taken on Sunday. New England was forced to call on several backups, a notion that the team’s coach said would be inevitable.
“We need everybody in here,” Vrabel added. “If you guys didn’t understand that already, you saw that today. Everybody stepped up. I’m proud of the coaching staff. I’m proud of the players.
“There are going to be some dirty games out there,” he added of the imperfect display in Cincinnati. “And what we need to do is come together a little bit tighter, and fix the problems. It starts with me. That’s our job is to fix problems, and then compete and communicate.”
Despite the issues in the win over the Bengals, Vrabel reiterated his satisfaction with the current team.
“I’m proud of you. We said we wanted to be the first team in the NFL to win 10 f****** games, and we are,” he continued. “But we’ve got a lot of work to do. We’ve got a lot of work to do, especially down the stretch. So we’ve got to get healthy. If you had an opportunity, and you didn’t like it, well then you’ve got to do something about it.”
Vrabel singled out a few players, including wide receiver DeMario “Pop” Douglas and rookie kicker Andy Borregales.
“There are guys that stepped up. Pop I appreciate what you did there coming out at half, giving us a spark there on third down and helping us. There are so many guys. Andy, that’s the way to do your job,” Vrabel explained.
“Offense,” Vrabel said, directing his attention to the that particular side the ball, “we’ve go to finish these drives off for touchdowns.”
“Defense, we’ve got to settle down and understand we can give up a first down. We’ve got to start turning the football over, but I’m proud to be your coach.”
Looking ahead to the holiday — and the ensuing Monday night game New England faces on Dec. 1 against the Giants — Vrabel closed with an optimistic message.
“There’s a lot for us to be thankful for. This football team and the people that are around here.”
Trivia: Mike Vrabel, a 1997 third-round pick, had a highly-successful NFL playing career, winning three Super Bowls (and earning a 2007 All-Pro nod). He finished with 57 career sacks. What player, also picked in the third round in 1997, had by far the most sacks of anyone in that draft class?
(Answer at the bottom).
Hint: He finished his career with 139.5 sacks, mostly accumulated in 13 seasons with the Dolphins.
Scores and schedules:
The Patriots defeated the Bengals 26-20 on Sunday, improving to 10-2 with a ninth straight win.
The Celtics also got a win, downing the Magic 138-129.
The Boston Fleet opened the 2025-26 season with a 2-0 win against the Montréal Victoire at the Tsongas Center.
And the Bruins were the only local team to lose on Sunday, falling 3-1 in San Jose to the Sharks.
More from Boston.com:
Patriots analysis, via former Patriots: Julian Edelman and Rob Gronkowski talked about their old team on Fox Sports NFL coverage.
Celtics highlights: Boston overcame Orlando in a high-scoring game on Sunday.
On this day: In 2013, the Patriots rallied from a 24-0 deficit against Peyton Manning and the Broncos to eventually win the dramatic game in overtime by a 34-31 final score.
Daily highlight: Marcus Jones helped turn the tide for the Patriots on Sunday with a perfectly timed interception that he took back for a touchdown against the Bengals.
Trivia answer: Jason Taylor
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