Mike Vrabel has witnessed several referees make many bad calls. And the Week 4 game between the New England Patriots and the Buffalo Bills was one such game. However, when the head coach confronted the referee for the bad call, the league turned against him with some disciplinary actions.
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Days later, former Patriots star Rob Gronkowski weighed in on the scenario. He acknowledged that the penalty’s fairness depended on exactly what Vrabel said to the referee. Gronkowski wondered what would happen if Vrabel had confronted the referee in the XFL, where coaches and referees can exchange words without penalty. He believed that it’d be quite appealing. But reality was different.
“What if Vrabel and this referee just started going at it and there was no consequences for Vrabel? That would be fun to watch,” Gronkowski said on The Gronk & Jules Show. “But you can’t. You gotta be disciplined. That doesn’t set a good example. I don’t care if this referee deserved it or not. You got to be more disciplined, and then it sets an example for your players, like, ‘Oh, our coach got a personal conduct penalty. Why can’t we?’
“In this case, it must have gotten them fired up because they won this game… In this case, it was good. That’s good coaching right there.”
This incident happened when the referee called a defensive holding on cornerback Marcus Jones against wide receiver D.J. Moore in the second quarter of the game. Even though the pass was incomplete, the penalty gave the Bills a fresh set of downs. Ultimately, it ended with a touchdown for Buffalo.
Vrabel was pretty upset with the call. And cameras caught him shouting that it was a “terrible call” with some expletive words. As a result, Vrabel received an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for shouting expletives at the referee on the sideline.
Vrabel, however, later addressed the incident in his postgame press conference. He clarified that as a head coach, he had told referees about their bad calls 87 times. The head coach even claimed that there was “nothing derogatory” about his comments. And that prompted him to believe that the referee was a bit too “sensitive.” Nevertheless, he knew that he shouldn’t have used expletive words.
“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,” Vrabel said. “And again, the players responded. It was unfortunate. And I have to be better in those moments.”
Meanwhile, PFWA pool reporter and ESPN’s Mike Reiss interviewed the referee, Vill Vinovich, following the game. After explaining what happened, Vinovich weighed in on whether the league could have given Vrabel a warning instead of a penalty.
“I don’t know how you’re going to give a warning,” the referee told Reiss. “It’s not something that is going to happen twice. When you use language like that, it’s pretty much a given.”
Well, getting slapped with an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty contradicts the elite discipline that the Patriots need to maintain their winning culture. Even though the Patriots secured a 29-26 win, Vrabel’s conduct will remain a lesson for the team to stay calm under pressure.