“He was an alpha—that’s his personality. I think he’s the best coach for New England. It’s a perfect fit,” former defensive back Logan Ryan said in January, just before Mike Vrabel interviewed with the Patriots. Vrabel faces the challenge of lifting his former team, the Patriots, back to relevance. He’s deeply committed to his role—whether he’s on the field guiding players or out in public, he makes sure to uphold his own standards and expects those around him to do the same, even if they’re strangers. During a recent conversation with The Athletic’s NFL Insider Dianna Russini, he shared his thoughts about the Patriots and an incident where he wanted to slash strangers’ tires.

Vrabel mentioned two things that really annoy him, and neither has anything to do with football. The Patriots coach said, “People, when they leave their carts in the middle of the parking lot and they don’t take them back to the cart return,” Vrabel said. “And then, the people at Starbucks that park in a handicapped spot (who do not have a disability) and try to go in there and get their order from the mobile order.” This can be annoying.

Vrabel expressed his frustration, saying, “When I didn’t have a job, I had nothing else to do, I could sit here for 15 minutes, wait for this person to come out and actually see if they’re handicapped.” He even admitted to checking dashboards for disabled parking permits. At times, he even confronted people when they came back. Excuses like grabbing a quick DoorDash order or rushing to yoga don’t cut it with him. In his eyes, it’s just plain wrong. “I’m like, ‘I don’t care. That’s unacceptable,” Vrabel said. That frustration runs so deep that he even joked he’d slash someone’s tires.

He gets so upset when he comes across such behavior that he doesn’t hesitate to agree to take desperate measures, such as “boot(ing)” people’s cars if possible. “I wish I had a boot. That’s a great idea. I would boot their car. Just like a mobile boot that says, I parked in a handicapped spot and I’m not handicapped,” he said. Although he settled for less aggressive alternatives like just confronting them about why they used the parking meant for the handicapped.

Now, there aren’t many people, especially those responsible for leading a football team’s comeback, who would take the time to sit around and call that out. But apart from these, Vrabel has a new set of annoying things to handle, and perhaps more annoying than the other two things that he mentioned.

Mike Vrabel deals with stubborn injuries

Injuries have been disastrous for some teams during the preseason, exposing areas that need attention before the regular season kicks off. The Patriots have been hit especially hard. As per the Patriots Wire’s Sophie Weller, Christian Gonzalez, Kendrick Bourne, Efton Chism III, Kyle Williams, and Isaiah Iton will not be available this week, as per Vrabel.

While Gonzalez and Bourne have been dealing with lingering injuries, the others went down after the preseason game against the Minnesota  Vikings. There is a chance that Bourne might get cut from the roster. Facing one of the toughest defenses, Vrabel’s squad suffered throughout the game. The details of Chism’s injury were not disclosed, though it is particularly concerning as he is competing for a roster spot as an undrafted rookie.

Bourne, too, is considered on the roster bubble. Williams left the game early after taking a hard hit to the head. Earlier, Isaiah Iton landed on injured reserve due to a hip injury. During his brief stint at the training camp, he appeared for the first two preseason games for the Pats and put up a solid performance, making a strong case for himself. He recorded three tackles across the games.

However, he was waived after the game against the Vikings. “He’s a guy that showed well in both and we’ve been keeping in touch with him should the opportunity arise,” Eliot Wolf said. With just a few weeks left before the season, the team must focus on building a strong roster around Maye. They can’t afford to weaken the offense at such a crucial time.