New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel joins The Greg Hill Show on WEEI each Monday live from Gillette Stadium, but this week’s interview got a little testy when Vrabel commented on the “little smirk” that producer Chris Curtius had on his face while asking a question that cast doubt on the Patriots’ success.
Coming off a home win over Atlanta, the Patriots sit atop the AFC East. But as the crew peppered Vrabel with questions, Curtis asked the coach to respond to the national narrative that New England’s “schedule has been a joke.” Curtis also questioned what Vrabel tells his players to combat that feeling within the locker room.
As Vrabel tried to answer the question, he apparently caught Curtis with a sly smile that he did not appreciate.
“That’s mind-boggling to me in the National Football League, that there would be strength of schedule,” Vrabel said. “You’ve got a salary cap, everybody spends the same amount of money. So you guys know in this league that that doesn’t really mean anything.
“I love your little smirk over there. You know, you come up with this question and you want to ask me about the strength of schedule and my message. My message has been the same every week, that we have to put everything that we have into each week.”
When Hill joked that Curtis has a smirk on his face “all day long,” Vrabel laughed it off.
“Oh I know, we’re family,” Vrabel said.
Vrabel can come off as a grumpy football guy, and his success speaks for itself. But clearly, his comments toward Curtis and the WEEI morning show were friendly banter.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.