The media had just made it up to the Gillette Stadium press box after the New England Patriots regular season finale last January.

Waiting for us in our in boxes was another Patriot bombshell, an announcement of the firing of the coach we had just spoken with, Jerod Mayo.

Never a dull moment with these Patriots, even in the post-Belichick/Brady Era.

Since, it’s been the rebranding of your football team, with the new sherrif, Mike Vrabel, wielding his badge and power. The team you’re going to watch this weekend is clearly his team, as he begins the rebuild. Vrabel has tossed out the pieces that were horrible last year and replaced them with players he thought would work. He’s vanquished most of the team captains because, likely in his mind, the were too associated with losing. A coach wants his captains to be his extension into the locker room. Gotta be his guys.

We’ve been through quite a journey with this team since March 17, 2020, when Tom Brady said “See ya!” It looked like the Patriots were back on track with a playoff berth in the 2021 season, but they haven’t been the same since the Buffalo Bills – the new owners of the AFC East – blew Bill Belichick’s last decent team out of the water in the Wild Card round in January 2022.

Vrabel, whose Tennessee Titans beat the Patriots in Brady’s final playoff game in New England in January of 2020, represents hope. He’s a coach who knows what he’s doing, does it his way – he was fired in Tennessee when he couldn’t do it his way – and has the demeanor closest to soon-to-be Patriots Hall of Fame coach Bill Parcells. There’s not a lot of sympathy there.

What should we expect? A lot of it depends on health. This team has a different brand of player. Vrabel wants speed, athleticism (what team doesn’t, right?) and has dumped the players he feels don’t have it. But in doing so, the Patriots have no depth, so if they get hit hard with injuries, forget the prediction in our preview story that says 9-8. Keep an eye on that Christian Gonzalez injury.

A lot obviously depends on second year QB Drake Maye, but having Josh McDaniels on board is a good thing. Not a head coach, but he can certainly teach a young QB as an offensive coordinator.

It’s kind of ironic that the pre-dynasty Patriots coach, Pete Carroll, is in Foxborough on Sunday with the Vegas Raiders, and he’s bringing Manchester’s Chip Kelly with him.

Carroll, of course, made the worst bonehead move, of course, that gave the Patriots a Super Bowl win, but he is a future Pro Football Hall of Famer who people may forget never had a losing season with the Patriots. But his direction wasn’t trending in the right way (10-6, 9-7, 8-8) and owner Robert Kraft is all about trends. And he knew last year the trend was not good.

Fans may be screaming that the Patriots didn’t make a big push to get Micah Parsons from the Cowboys, but they need to understand the situation: The Patriots aren’t a player away like the Packers. They are not in a position to give up muliple first round picks. Or any first round pick.

“We have to build some depth here to this roster and you do that from the draft,” Vrabel said on WEEI’s Greg Hill Show this past week. “It hasn’t been – we’ll call it what it is – it hasn’t been real great. The depth of the roster has not been through our draft the last handful of year, and that has to change. We all know that.”

Vrabel spent oodles of Kraft’s money to shore up what he perceived as holes in the defense, and used the draft to aid the offense. There’s a lot of ifs, including top pick Will Campbell at left tackle. If there are any offensive line injuries, it’s going to be brutal.

But you see that Vrabel has his plan. And he’s right. We say your New England Patriots are in good hands.

Either way, enjoy the fact that the NFL will control your Sundays from now until Feb. 1, 2026, the week in between the conference championships and the Feb. 8 Super Bowl.

Tom King may be reached at X @Telegraph_TomK, or via email at tking@nashuatelegraph.com