Mike Vrabel responds to Seahawks claiming Patriots had pass-protection 'tell'

Doug Kyed, Boston Herald on Feb 11, 2026

Published in Football

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FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The Seattle Seahawks apparently had some help with their blitzes in the Super Bowl.

Immediately after winning Super Bowl LX 29-13, cornerback Devon Witherspoon told SiriusXM NFL Radio that Seahawks essentially knew what the New England Patriots were going to do on offense based on the way their offensive linemen were positioned.

“I knew what was going on,” Witherspoon said. “We had a good tell on what they like to do and how they like to play and how they were going to attack us. Coach put us in the best position to win. That’s our coach right there, that’s why we always stand beside him and always have his back.”

“We had a tell on their guards and their tackles, how they like to set, they’re going to overset on certain rushes, they’re going to fall for certain moves any time a group of guys get after them, and today I think we did that,” Witherspoon added.

Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel was asked about Witherspoon’s comments on Tuesday afternoon, when the team was in Gillette Stadium for locker room cleanout.

“I mean, that tell is there every week where a guy’s stance is a little different,” Vrabel said. “We went the whole season, Morgan Moses was in the same stance when we threw the ball, and we threw it pretty good. When we run it, guys try to be in the same stances. We want to try to be as consistent as we possibly can. I think on some down-and-distances, guys can be in two-point stances. We have certain rules there in third down, or if you’re on the open side, you’re away from a tight end, and I think that those things are pretty consistent. If there were moments where they knew we were going to throw the ball then, I don’t know, you’d have to give me the exact idea of when the nickel thought we were throwing it.”

Witherspoon was one of the Seahawks’ stars of the game with a sack and two QB hits, one of which led to an interception from Patriots QB Drake Maye.

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