Mike Vrabel is not letting a three-game winning streak cover up the number that bothers him most. A day after the New England Patriots lost two fumbles and still beat the New York Jets 26-19, the head coach used his weekly radio interview on Monday morning to call his team’s ball security an embarrassment.
“We turn the ball over at a historic rate, and it’s ridiculous. It’s an embarrassment,” Vrabel said, as Mike Reiss relayed it.
"We turn the ball over at a historic rate, and it's ridiculous. It's an embarrassment." — Mike Vrabel, to @TheGregHillShow, on the Patriots' 13 giveaways (second most in NFL)
— Mike Reiss (@MikeReiss) October 19, 2026
The remark matters because of what comes next. New England has three days to clean it up before a Thursday night game at Soldier Field, and a short week leaves little practice time for anything beyond the basics.
Thirteen giveaways in six games
The Patriots entered Week 6 giving the ball away 2.2 times per game, 30th in the league over their first five games. Sunday added two more: TreVeyon Henderson was stripped in the third quarter, and in the fourth quarter DeMario Douglas turned a short catch into a 39-yard gain before a defender knocked the ball free. New York kicked a field goal after each one, six of its 19 points.
That brings the season total to 13, which Reiss noted is the second-highest count in the league. Seven are interceptions thrown by Drake Maye and six are lost fumbles, according to reports. The interceptions have dried up lately: Maye has not been picked off in either of the last two games, and against the Jets he threw three touchdown passes without a turnover or a sack. The fumbles have not stopped.
It is not a new theme for Vrabel. After a 35-6 loss at Jacksonville in Week 3, when New England fell to 1-2, he told reporters the team could not keep giving the ball away at that pace. Three straight wins over the Buffalo Bills, the Las Vegas Raiders and the Jets have followed, but the giveaways kept coming in all three.
Winning anyway, for now
The Patriots are 4-2 and 3-0 at home largely because the rest of the operation has held up. They outgained the Jets 383-324, Charles Woods intercepted Geno Smith to win one of the fumbles back, and a 13-play drive late in the fourth quarter ran the clock down before Andy Borregales’ 27-yard field goal.
Vrabel’s message on Sunday night was that his team was lucky to win, and his Monday comments pushed the same point further: a team that hands opponents extra possessions every week is living on a thin margin, whatever the record says. He also said there were things the club has to clean up and that it needs to keep improving week to week.
What comes next
New England plays at the Chicago Bears on Thursday, October 22, at 8:15 p.m. EDT, with three offensive linemen hurt on Sunday and A.J. Brown in his second game back from a high ankle sprain. The matchup, kickoff details and both teams’ numbers are in the Game Center, and the latest availability is on the injury report.
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