In his 7-season head-coaching career, Mike Vrabel has certainly seen multiple referee calls go wrong from the sidelines. But the New England Patriots head coach certainly wasn’t expecting to be disciplined for his controversial actions. That, however, was evident in New England’s 29-26 win over the Buffalo Bills on Sunday.
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Vrabel called one of the refs’ calls a “terrible call” after John Streicher, Vrabel’s assistant coach, confirmed that it was a bad call. That prompted the officials to penalize him for unsportsmanlike conduct. After the game, Vrabel acknowledged the incident and confirmed that he had apologized to the ref.
“I told him it was a terrible- I’m not going to say- f’ing call,” said Vrabel after the game. “I’ve said that 87 times since I’ve been a head coach. There was nothing derogatory, you’d have to ask him. I think he was a little sensitive.
“Once I get the word from upstairs that it wasn’t what we felt like was a good call, which I’m going to trust with my life. I probably shouldn’t have swore, but I could tell you that in my history of being on the sidelines as a head coach, I’ve said that and I apologize to him. And again, the players responded, it was unfortunate. And I have to be better in those moments.”
Vrabel cleared his stance after giving the Bills their first loss of the season. Late in the second quarter, Buffalo had reached the Patriots’ 6-yard line. On third down, Josh Allen’s incomplete pass appeared to give New England a chance to force Buffalo into a field goal.
However, Patriots cornerback Marcus Jones was called for defensive holding, giving Buffalo a fresh set of downs. Vrabel was furious with the call and confronted the officials from the sidelines. That’s when Referee Bill Vinovich flagged the HC for unsportsmanlike conduct.
The penalty moved the ball from the New England 16 to the 6-yard line and gave Buffalo a first down. Three plays later, Josh Allen scored a touchdown, tying the game 14-14. After the game, Vinovich was asked what led to Mike Vrabel being assessed an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. In his response, Vinovich revealed:
“He was out of the box, came up to the official and said, ‘That was a f***ing terrible call.”
However, when asked whether there was a warning in a situation like this, Vinovich added, “I don’t know how you’re going to give a warning. It’s not something that is going to happen twice. When you use language like that, it’s pretty much a given.”
Ultimately, Vrabel’s frustration was understandable from his perspective, but the penalty still came at a costly moment for the Patriots. What could have been a potential field-goal situation for Buffalo instead turned into a fresh first down and, three plays later, a touchdown.