Mike Vrabel says "difficult decisions" ahead for Patriots after Super Bowl loss
Mike Vrabel said now that his first season as New England Patriots head coach is in the books, it's safe for him to admit that his players exceeded expectations. Still, Vrabel said there's plenty of work to be done in the offseason to make sure the Patriots take the next step.
Vrabel held his final news conference of the season on Tuesday at Gillette Stadium. The team returned to Foxboro Monday night, a day after losing the Super Bowl to the Seattle Seahawks.
"Every time you guys ask me about my expectations, I say I try not to have any so that I'm not disappointed. But I would say that they, now that we're done, probably exceeded expectations," Vrabel said. "I think we probably – the biggest thing is I think we learned how to win. I think you have to learn how to win in this league."
"Difficult decisions" in Patriots offseason
The coach said the focus will quickly shift to offseason decisions.
"I mean, there'll be some difficult decisions that we'll have to make, and we'll try to do them with the team's best interest in mind," Vrabel said. "As always, that'll never change. I appreciate what they did and how they came together, all the guys that came in from other places that maybe didn't start the year with us, and the different path and a different journey that each guy took."
Decisions will have to be made on the coaching staff. Vrabel was asked if he expects Zak Kuhr to remain defensive coordinator. Kuhr took over during the season for Terrell Williams, who is now recovering after receiving treatment for prostate cancer.
"Yeah, there'll be a lot of things that we'll have to work through there," Vrabel said. "We'll have to work through – [Terrell Williams is] healthy and been given a release to be back and be back at work. So again, I'll work through all those things here in the next couple days, weeks, however long those decisions may take."
In a follow-up question, Vrabel was asked if he expects any changes overall to the coaching staff.
"There's always going to be change. I don't know when I would expect those," Vrabel said. "I just try to focus on the season. I met with the players this morning. We'll continue to meet and visit with coaches, and we'll kind of go from there."
Christian Gonzalez extension talks
One topic that is likely to come up in the offseason is the contract status of cornerback Christian Gonzalez, who starred in the Super Bowl.
With the season over, Gonzalez is now eligible for an extension and is expected to become one of the top paid defensive backs in the NFL whenever he signs his next deal.
"I'm not really trying to get into all of that. That's kind of more my agents that'll deal with that and keep my up to speed on it. Coming into today I just wanted to see the guys and hang out with them a couple more times," said Gonzalez Tuesday in the locker room. He was then asked if he prefers to stay with the Patriots. "Oh yeah. No doubt. This is where I got drafted and I don't want to be anywhere else."