The thing about Mike Vrabel is that he doesn’t believe in coaching from a safe distance. He’s old school like that. If you’re going to teach physicality, you better feel it. Take Will Campbell’s pre-draft visit, for instance. The head coach didn’t just watch tape; he threw on a pad and told Campbell to hit him, literally. The former LSU tackle obliged and knocked him straight to the turf. “Yeah, I got him. I’m not going to lie, I got him on the ground,” Campbell said.Vrabel laughed it off, saying, “He caught me pretty good on the second snap.” That mindset hasn’t changed one bit at Patriots OTAs. Ask Christian Elliss—he watched his head coach line up in full chest protection, running linebacker and special teams drills like he was just another guy trying to make the roster. “He has a pad on and he’s running drills with us. Like, he has the chest pad on and he’s running drills with us,” Ellis confirmed.Vrabel’s purpose? To build off of last year’s 4-13 campaign, and give a strong team to second-year quarterback Drake Maye. Following a rough start to his rookie season, Maye is expected to evolve as a better leader in his sophomore season. At the first open practice of the Vrabel era, Maye threw four interceptions. The next time out, he was erratic again — balls sailing, timing off, reads late. It wasn’t panic-worthy, but it didn’t go unnoticed either.The noise followed. But these were May reps without pads. Stefon Diggs wasn’t on the field. The offense was new. Still, in a post-Brady world, quarterbacks in Foxborough don’t get the luxury of time or context. And Vrabel is eager to make Maye shine. He even implemented a drill for Maye during the team’s OTAs.The drill would thrust Maye “into the spotlight in adverse situations that test all players’ physical and mental toughness.” ESPN’s Mike Reiss confirmed. Here’s how it worked out: at the end of the latest practice session, the head coach lined up the offense along the goal line, with Maye in the middle, and asked his quarterback to call out a snap. Like, one…twice…three times. The result? All the players would start sprinting, just like that.#Patriots HC Mike Vrabel is running drills that thrust QB Drake Maye “into the spotlight in adverse situations that test all players’ physical and mental toughness,” per @MikeReiss.One drill requires Maye to loudly call a snap count that signals when the whole team must sprint. pic.twitter.com/6wPLD8lcC2— Carlos A. Lopez (@LosTalksPats) June 8, 2025Having said that, many players were exhausted by the end of the drill. But there’s a catch. Maye calls out the snap, no doubt. But Mike Vrabel asked his QB to call out a “dummy” snap count. To check if any player is jumping early. Classic Vrabel. The Patriots shared a picture of the drill on their social media in which Maye was leading the offense from the middle, and the rest of the offense was lined up along the goal line.All in all, the Patriots are moving ahead for the 2025 campaign with Coach Vrabel leading the team. As for the second-year QB, the guy had a rough start in the OTAs, but as the practice sessions progressed, it’s safe to say that Maye is ready to bring a change in his second year.Drake Maye’s bounce-back from four interceptionsAhead of the Patriots’ OTAs a few weeks ago, Drake Maye was at the center of attention, once again. The guy was coming from a notable yet rough rookie season. We’re talking about over 2K yards at a completion rate of 66.6, 15 passing TDs, and a noteworthy rushing performance. But his 3-9 record in 12 starts caught the negative reaction. With Coach Vrabel and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels returning to New England, Maye was expected as a leader in his second year in the NFL.Maye had a rocky start to his 2025 campaign. The Patriots kicked off their OTAs on May 19th. And during his first period of 11-on-11 drills, the QB threw two interceptions. The first one was picked up by safety Dell Pettus, while Christian Gonzalez grabbed another. But that wasn’t all. During his second period of 11-on-11s, Maye threw another set of a couple of picks. Ultimately, he threw more interceptions in just two 11-on-11 series than he did in his last offseason combined. Brutal.Image Credits: ImagoThe silver lining? Well, as the OTAs progressed, Maye’s performance improved over time. The QB bounced back and didn’t throw an interception in the next practice session. To spice things up, Greg Bedard of Boston Sports Journal later admitted that he saw a big change in Drake Maye. “The big change for me was just like how comfortable and calm he (Maye) was in this practice, and like you didn’t even really notice the hitch or anything like that,” Bedard noted.Right now, Vrabel says the focus is on getting Maye, along with the rest of the roster, comfortable in a new system ahead of next month’s mandatory minicamp. “I think everybody’s worked extremely hard, including Drake, to pick up what we want to do offensively and defensively,” Vrabel said. “Now that has to start to translate onto the practice field in a spring setting, without pads, and I think that we’re off to a good start. We had a positive day. We were able to mix some speed stuff in and competitive stuff to a point.”Long story short: with Mike Vrabel participating in practice sessions alongside his players, and Drake Maye improving ahead of his second season, it’s safe to say that the Patriots are looking to build on last year’s 4-13 campaign.The post Mike Vrabel Forces Drake Maye to Change Character After Patriots QB’s OTA Performance appeared first on EssentiallySports.