FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Mike Vrabel isn't making life easy for Gabe Jacas.
And the rookie is totally fine with that.
The New England Patriots head coach has been very open about the young defender's efforts this preseason, praising him at times while also publicly expressing what he needs to do better. And when asked about his progress on Monday, Vrabel simply replied, "OK."
“I think that it needs to be better. It was better on Saturday than it was in the game,” Vrabel explained. “We pointed some things out to him in the game, and I felt it was really cool of him to be able to make those corrections and look at some of the body positions that we feel like he should be in, and he was really conscious of those, and I saw those things translate in just
a quick, short amount of time from the meeting after the game to Saturday’s practice.”
While this style of coaching might not work for everyone, it's clear that it's exactly what Jacas wanted in a head coach. And he's loving getting to work with Vrabel.
“That style of coaching, you don’t get everywhere else,” Jacas told reporters after Wednesday's practice. “So, the fact that he’s so hard on me just brings the best out of me every day. He demands a lot from me.”
He added that he took Vrabel's notes from Thursday's game and is making sure he applies the changes to his game so he doesn't make the same mistakes.
“I want to do everything right. I’m the type of guy I want to be perfect in everything I do, especially my technique,” Jacas said. “Just be able to use my hands, use my power. He just continues to bring out the best tangibles that I got.”
Jacas, who is wearing No. 50, which is Vrabel's old number, also joked that the coach might be harder on him since he's taken over that jersey.
It wasn't a simple start after the draft for Jacas, who was missing in action early due to a knee procedure he was recovering from, as well as a contract situation with the Patriots that left him unsigned all the way up until the first day of training camp. News broke on the first day that he signed his contract, but he remained out for roughly a week as he got up to speed. But now, with a bunch of practices under his belt, Jacas made it clear that he's all caught up and is ready to go.
"I’ve progressed a lot. Each and every practice I get better, and I continue to improve," he said. "So each and every day, I’m just working on the little things, whatever that could be in the pass game or run game. Just a blessing to be out here, and you can just tell I’m just continuing to build and build.”
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This article originally appeared on Patriots Wire: Mike Vrabel demanding more from Gabe Jacas, and the rookie loves it
