Mike Vrabel reunion ‘preview’ should get Patriots excited

The New England Patriots clearly needed a locker room change, hence the proactive hiring of new head coach Mike Vrabel.

Of course, there is a clear need for not finishing dead last in the AFC East with a 4-13 record for the third straight time next season. But there’s also a need to rebuild the team’s culture, and this time it’s up to Vrabel, a former Patriots linebacker for eight seasons and a three-time Super Bowl champion, to change that.

Vrabel now takes over for the messy trainwreck that was Jerod Mayo’s only season as Patriots head coach, and the team — and its fans — get a glimpse of seven years ago that might suggest what it will look like next behind the scenes in New England. season.

Will Compton, a former Tennessee Titans linebacker during Vrabel’s head coaching tenure, shared a snippet of the Vrabel experience.

You can watch the full video here, courtesy of Compton’s X account.

Compton’s re-posted clip from Tennessee’s 2018 season resurfaced hours after Vrabel was officially hired by New England and should improve the humdrum atmosphere left in Foxboro following the franchise’s third straight playoff failure.

“Hey, hey, listen. Let’s stop laughing (expletive),” Compton shouted while imitating Vrabel for several minutes. “It’s not about feeling good. It’s about being awesome. I know you’re hurting (expletive). I was (expletive) in pain. Twenty-eight years in the league, I was (expletive) hurting.

Everyone in the Tennessee meeting room burst into laughter throughout Compton’s performance, including Vrabel himself. The 49-year-old’s ability to laugh, even as a joke, demonstrates Vrabel’s easy-going personality.

Perhaps Vrabel’s presence will help add some personality and lift the atmosphere at Gillette Stadium next season.