FOXBOROUGH – Mike Vrabel has never been one to shy away from a fight.
That was seen last week during the Patriots joint practice session with the Washington Commanders.
During a full-team period, TreVeyon Henderson picked up a blitz against a Commanders player. When the two hit the ground, they began to fight. That’s when Vrabel dove in and tried to separate the two players. That’s also when Will Campbell dove in to protect his teammate.
The result was Vrabel getting a laceration on the right side of his face. When he was pulled out of the scrum, the Patriots coach was bleeding.
Vrabel said he didn’t show the team the film from that play during a team meeting, but noted it made the rounds in their position rooms.
“I didn’t show the team. They all looked at it, obviously, in their meeting rooms because guys were laughing at me,” Vrabel said on Sunday. “I realized that Will and I were thinking the same thing, just trying to get the second guy off and TreVeyon, and they’re wrestling around – I just don’t want anything to happen to anybody. My job is to try to break those up, and I don’t mind doing it, and that’s kind of how it went.”
When he was a player, Vrabel once got into a fight during his first padded practice as a rookie with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Although he wasn’t the one fighting last week, Patriots players took notice – and said they were impressed with their coach.
After Sunday’s practice, Campbell was asked about his role in the fight, and said it was simple.
“Protect your teammates,” Campbell said. “That’s all I gotta say about it.”
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