What defines a team’s turning point? Is it a locker room speech, the thrill of a new playbook, or maybe a surprising cut that sets the tone for months ahead? “The expectations are that we compete, that we try to be good enough to take advantage of bad football, that we’re not beating ourselves, that there is a rhythm to what we’re doing, that there’s a flow to what we do,” Mike Vrabel recently told The Athletic, reflecting his no-nonsense standard as the new head coach in Foxborough.

This preseason, the Patriots broke out of the gate with back-to-back wins, building growing hype in Vrabel’s first year at the helm. Fresh play designs, a reshaped roster , and surging optimism swirled in the media and among fans. But as the 53-man roster deadline loomed, Vrabel remained steadfastly

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