Mike Vrabel May Have Given the Jaguars Their Bulletin Board Material For Week 3

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The Jacksonville Jaguars thrived on responding to backhanded compliments and using them as bulletin board material a year ago. Will they do it again this weekend against the New England Patriots?

Ahead of their Week 3 kickoff with the defending AFC champions, the source of motivation could come from comments made earlier in the week by Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel.

Vrabel's Comments

Asked by the Patriots media earlier this week about how he views Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence's growth after years of coaching him in the AFC South, Vrabel made an ... interesting comment that was conveyed as a compliment. But, then again, Robert Saleh and Sean Payton said they were complimenting the Jaguars a year ago, and that didn't stop the Jaguars from using their pre-game comments as fuel through the week.

"I think he is just much more decisive and comfortable. I think you could always count on some turnovers, maybe three or four years ago. I don’t think that is necessarily the case now," Vrabel said.

That is certainly an interesting way to give a player his due. Lawrence was amongst the NFL's leaders in turnovers in his first few years, and he did have just a 3-3 record against the Vrabel-led Titans. But it also feels like Vrabel could have talked about Lawrence's strengths without stating in more polite terms that he was a turnover machine before Liam Coen was hired.

nfl — Sep 9, 2026; Seattle, Washington, USA; New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel before a game against the Seattle Seahawks at Lumen Field. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Vrabel went on to praise Lawrence, stating "He has done a really fantastic job of being able to move the ball downfield, but keep it out of harm's way. He’s decisive when he scrambles. It’s a guaranteed first down, if not longer when he decides to scramble. Those aren’t even the designed run plays. Those are drop back passes that turn into play extensions, and he is either keeping his eyes downfield and hitting somebody, or he’s decisive and he is willing to scramble. So, I just see a lot of maturity, and he is playing at a high level."

Vrabel was likely not intending to send shots at Lawrence, but we saw a year ago that doesn't matter. The Jaguars took any perceived slight last year and made it a rallying cry in road upsets of the San Francisco 49ers and Denver Broncos. The Jaguars have already had some level of pissed off emotions this week due to letting last week's battle with the Broncos slip away, and these comments likely won't change that.

mike vrabel — Aug 22, 2026; Foxborough, Massachusetts, USA; New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel in the second quarter against the Philadelphia Eagles at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Edward Finan-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Lawrence was also asked about Vrabel this week, though that had more to do with being asked about whether he has watched any old Titans tape to find trends within Vrabel's deensive scheme.

"Obviously, we have a lot of inventory with last season and this year and the couple games that they played this year. Our staff has done a little bit of that, and we talked about some of the stuff that has been carried over in our plan that we might have done because we have so much tape of me playing against Tennessee when Vrabel was there," Lawrence said. "So, there is some of that. I can't say I've gone back and watched necessarily all those games, watching more of New England, the scheme and the guys they have now. But yeah, definitely there's some of that carryover.”

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