With 90 minutes to go until his first preseason game as Patriots head coach, Mike Vrabel was not inside Gillette Stadium.

Instead, he was just outside the gates, gladhanding with Tom Brady ’s father as his team was getting ready to unveil a six-foot statue of its legendary quarterback .

It’s not often you see a team’s head coach not within the confines of the stadium so close to kickoff. However, Vrabel made a point to at least make a brief appearance.

“It was always important to be out there. You saw the amount of people that were there to support him. ... Glad that I was able to be a part of it for a little bit,” Vrabel said.

A “little bit” is the key phrase. The ceremony to unveil Brady’s statue outside Gillette started at 6 p.m. and ran for 30 minutes. Vrabel was present at

See Full Page