‘Remain focused each day, not look too far ahead’: Vrabel speaks on how Patriots are prepping for Super Bowl

“I try not to have a whole lot of concern, I just want to try to prepare the football team and make sure that everybody’s ready,” Vrabel said.

Mike Vrabel is doing his best to downplay Drake Maye’s right shoulder injury, but the Patriots head coach did refute reports Maye suffered the injury prior to the AFC Championship game in Denver.

“No, because then he woulda been listed on the injury report before then,” Vrabel said.

Maye did not throw a pass during the portion of practice open to the media, but even if he’s limited throwing the ball in the Super Bowl, Vrabel is confident his quarterback can do damage with his legs, as evidenced by the 65 rushing yards Maye racked up against a tough Broncos defense.

“When you can move the ball down the field and throw it obviously, that’s what we would like and then, when it’s not there, it gives us an advantageous look for him to be able to extend plays,” Vrabel said. “We talked about remaining a passer or thrower, but then there’s other times where he’s decisive and he’s able to go north and south.”

With the Patriots scheduled to fly to San Jose on Sunday, Vrabel is making sure his team maintains a proper mindset.

“You know, just try to remain focused on each day and not look too far ahead, it’s something that, you know, we’ve tried to focus on just getting started today and trying to break the, the days up [and] how much they are working and when they’re off [and] you know the time that they’re gonna have but also focused on trying to keep the normal schedule as close to you know possible as we, we can make it,” Vrabel said.