Mike Vrabel kept it light after a nail-biter, reminding everyone that the NFL is a strange place to string together wins. Fresh off a 24-23 escape versus the Falcons that hinged on a missed extra point, the Patriots' head coach said it’s a funny league and stressed learning from wins so they don’t have to learn from losses, a clear nod to keeping a surging locker room humble and focused as the schedule tightens.

Asked a day later how close New England came to making moves before the deadline, Vrabel broke out a memorable line . Deals, he said, aren’t about proximity. “Trades are like being pregnant. You either are or you aren’t. I don’t know how close you can be,” he quipped, per Jori Epstein. Expand Tweet

In other words, the Patriots explored, but they weren’t crossing the goal li

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