Mike Vrabel sends clear message after kicker's three-miss game

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Mike Vrabel didn't mince words about Andy Borregales' performance following the first preseason game of the 2026 season. The kicker ended the night, missing three of his five attempts, and the New England Patriots head coach made sure to point that out. "Three," Vrabel responded, correcting a reporter who asked about Borregales missing 'a couple of kicks.' "I don't have a message. We're expected to make them. That's pro football." Borregales first missed from 56 yards, then from 55 yards. But his third miss was the one that stood out most, as rookie quarterback Behren Morton led the offense downfield on a successful one-minute drive, putting the Patriots within field-goal range with a chance to win the game. But when Borregales lined up to take the 49-yard attempt, he missed it. "Guys are going to drop a pass. Guys are going to miss a block. We're going to miss a kick. But you just have to not let those things pile up, and Andy's been really good with that, and I would anticipate him getting back to work and really starting to focus, and maybe it was a footwork thing or trying to overswing," Vrabel explained. "But I have confidence in Andy. I just, you want to be able to make those, and I think we got in a position to win the football game, and you want to be able to make them." Borreagles echoed his coach's sentiments. “Obviously, I mean, I hold myself to a high standard, just disappointing, but just got to build from there," the kicker told reporters after the game. “Yeah, I feel like I hooked it a little bit. But then again, just got to go back and watch the film and see exactly what happened.” But that being said, Vrabel isn't ruling out the possibility of bringing in some competition. "Well, I'm sure we'll talk about it and see where we're at. I'm not going to make any decision tonight," he said. "But again, we're going to have misses. We're going to have mistakes. In everything we do, we just need to be able to come back. We need to be able to bounce back, and we need to be able to answer." Vrabel saw firsthand how a competition worked last summer, as it helped push Borregales, who was competing with veteran John Parker Romo. And then on Thursday night, he saw it through a different lens as the Colts had a kicker competition between Spencer Shrader and Blake Grupe, with Shrader making a 61-yard field goal with 1:16 left that led to the 13-13 tie. "They're banging them in from 60 yards," Vrabel said. "They got two kickers on the roster, so Andy knows that we have to make those field goals." Follow Patriots Wire on Twitter and Facebook. This article originally appeared on Patriots Wire: Mike Vrabel sends clear message after kicker's three-miss game