Episode 2 of 'Forged in Foxborough' Shows the Contrasts Between Last Year's Pats and This Year's in the Starkest Possible Terms
With Patriots semi-officially kicking off the Mike Vrabel Era with the start of training camp tomorrow, there couldn't be a better time to watch Episode 2 of their in-house documentary series:
As much as I liked the first one, which dropped in mid-May:
… this follow up was exactly what I needed to get my head right for Day 1 of camp.
I won't go through the entire 45 minutes, which you can find at the link to the Patriots website above or on YouTube here, but instead focus on what to me is the major narrative at work here.
The whole episode focuses on the time after the draft through spring practices. And the very first thing that hits you is the difference between how Mike Vrabel and his staff is approaching this season and the way Jerod Mayo's crew did.
Again, it's important to go easy on Mayo, who's a very smart individual with a knowledge of tackle football and character that is above reproach. He just found himself in a Kobyashi Maru. Lacking in experience. Not having been around the league. With a short Contacts list on his phone of quality coaches he could hire.
More over, it seemed like one of his first orders of business was to turn the page from the Belichick Dynasty years. To pull a Patriots version of Rick Pitino's "Larry Bird isn't walking through that door." Signs were taken down. Framed photos in the hallway were replaced. And the general philosophy seemed to be that Belichick's methods were no longer working. And a cultural shift needed to be made. Which is probably understandable given the situation he had found himself in. The team seemed to have checked out toward the end of 2023. And a new approach of being more player friendly, cutting them more slack, and to use the cliche, "treating them like men" seemed to be in order. While looking back at the Mayo's playing days and multiple Super Bowls was not going to help the franchise move forward.
Which is all well and good. Except it failed utterly. The 2024 Pats were a ship adrift with no helm control. Like the Poop Cruise, but with more people suffering. And at least the Carnival Triumph's captain kept their job:
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As Episode 2 makes clear, Vrabel is not only not trying to erase the Dynasty, he's embracing it. Rather than put it in the past, he's trying to make it part of the future. The very first scene is the newest additions to the roster, the draft picks, UDFAs and I assume some of the free agents, are taken to the Hall at Patriots Place for some history lessons. To see the six Lombardis. Look at the exhibits. And learn what was built by Vrabel and hundreds of others who came before them.
Those lessons include a talk from team Hall of Famer and Position Coach Emeritus Dante Scarnecchia, where he talks about how different it was when he first got a job on the staff. That would be in the first Reagan Administration. And how their second round pick that year was Andre Tippett, who made it to Canton thanks to 100 sacks in his 11 year career and working his ass off to be great.
Other similar examples he cites are of course Tom Brady, and Julian Edelman who plays a big role in the episode. As do Joe Andruzzi and Logan Mankins. All three of them echo was Scar told this new roster Vrabel has assembled. That what they have is an opportunity to become part of an organization and a culture that is special. To inherit the legacy those guys built. One based on hard work, playing smart, fundamental football, being accountable … all those things we took for granted for 20 years but have been missing here lately.
For example there's a scene with Edelman telling third round WR Kyle Williams that when he dropped a ball in practice, he'd go out the next day and catch 500 balls before and after workouts the next day. And tells the camera he was trying to crack a wide receiver depth chart that included Randy Moss, Wes Welker and Joey Galloway. So he approached every day like he was fighting for his professional life. And he never stopped.
That same dedication continues during a segment on perhaps the position group in the biggest need of an upgrade, the offensive line. With Andruzzi and Mankins talking about how important it was for them to put in the time, work on the details, and come together with their linemates as a cohesive unit, we get footage of spring practices where the Pats O-line is doing exactly that. What they call "The After School" sessions, led by Michael Onwenu who's been here the longest, and Morgan Moses, who's got the most experience in the league. Plus rookie LT Will Campbell, who's the key to the whole thing. And free agent C Garrett Bradbury. And coached by a trio of guys, Doug Marrone and assistants Jason "Hog" Houghtaling and Robert "Kug" Kugler (not a lot of effort going on with those nicknames, but when you answer to "Old Balls" you're in no position to judge), it feels like three experienced guys who all seemed to be delivering the coaching points. Step into your punch. Light hands until you throw your punch, then you get heavy. Proper stances and moving with your assignment on the edge until you engage. And so on. It feels like a million light years since the O-line was coached by Matt Patricia and Adrian Klemm because they were in Belichick's inner circle.
Then there's the focus on Josh McDaniels. I say again, he's exactly the guy I wanted running this offense. And this show demonstrates why. There's no denying that things went tits up for him as a head coach, twice. Neither time did he make it to the end of Year 2. And he got savaged by his players each time he got fired. But I defy anyone not to see him running the McOffense in practice, or taking the lead in a coaches' meeting, and not see a likable dude, completely in his element, and being good to work with. From small details like walking through an option route with a receiver to telling his staff how approach red area reps in that day's practice to answering a specific question in the meeting about whether he thinks a particular post route would work well in a situation on the screen in front of them.
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Most importantly of all, you watch the way McDaniels conducts himself and Drake Maye's whole demeanor on the practice field:
And you cannot help but feel this franchise is back in the most capable of hands. With these names we've been discussing here, Vrabel seems to making sure the players he's assembled understand they have high standards to live up to. Building a bridge to the past, in order to move into a better future than the one we were facing last summer at this time. And I couldn't be more for it.
See you at the practice field.