Mike Vrabel is one win away from hoisting the Lombardi as a head coach, a feat that immediately drew a pointed message from a Patriots legend. On January 25, the head coach led the New England Patriots to a 10-7 win over the Denver Broncos in a snow-covered AFC Championship Game. And shortly after the win, Julian Edelman jumped on Instagram and sent a clear message to Vrabel about what comes next.

“F–king Amazing. Go get you one! 🙌🙏👊❤️,” Julian Edelman wrote in the caption of his latest Instagram story.

The victory earned the Patriots the Lamar Hunt Trophy and booked their trip to Super Bowl LX. Just one game remains, and one more trophy is left to chase for Mike Vrabel in his first year at the helm of the Patriots. Julian Edelman’s 4-word message conveys a clear belief that the Lombardi is for Vrabel’s team to lift next.

Edelman, who has been to three Super Bowls with the Patriots himself, also dropped his message now while sharing a post from the Patriots’ official Instagram account. The post featured a photo that projected a loud, bold, and unapologetic championship mentality. Mike Vrabel appeared wearing a headset, while his quarterback, Drake Maye, stood with the ball in his hand, ready to throw. Several other Patriots players filled the photo, but the line that jumped off the screen sat right in the middle:

“We all we got. WE ALL WE NEED.”

That slogan has become a rallying cry for the Patriots this season. New England’s veteran wide receiver Stefon Diggs has repeated it all season, and it fits his team’s championship run perfectly. After all, Mike Vrabel has engineered a stunning turnaround this season with a team that went 4-13 last year. Now they’re heading to the Super Bowl with a second-year QB and a first-year head coach. Who really saw that coming?

Even the AFC Championship Game itself felt like a test of will for the Patriots. The freezing, snowy conditions made it miserable for both the Broncos and the Patriots at Mile High. Points were hard to find as the Broncos and the Patriots kickers missed four field goals in total. Points were at a premium, and the game ultimately hinged on which team’s kicker could deliver in the brutal conditions.

Patriots kicker Andy Borregales went 1-for-3 on field goals on Sunday night. Meanwhile, Broncos kicker Will Lutz went 0-for-2, including a huge miss from 46 yards with 4:46 left in the game. The real difference in the game came with 5:29 left in the third quarter, when Borregales made a 23-yard field goal. 

Drake Maye could not light up his game through the air as he completed just 10 of 21 passes for 86 yards. But Maye made up for it with his legs. He rushed 10 times to record 65 yards and a touchdown and kept the Patriots alive in clutch moments. And it was his final rush of the game, a 7-yard scramble on a third down, that sealed the victory for the Patriots. 

Now, Maye will become the second-youngest QB ever in the NFL to start a Super Bowl, behind only NFL legend Dan Marino. Meanwhile, the Patriots will chase their seventh Lombardi Trophy. 

Mike Vrabel makes a statement on his next Super Bowl milestone

With his team now headed to Santa Clara, Mike Vrabel can win the Super Bowl as both a player and a head coach for the same organization. He already owns three Super Bowl rings with the Patriots (XXXVI, XXXVIII, XXXIX) from his days as a linebacker in the early 2000s. During the Lamar Hunt Trophy ceremony, a reporter asked Vrabel how he felt about the next milestone in his career, and his answer again showed his team-first approach.

“I won’t win it,” Mike Vrabel said while holding the Lamar Hunt Trophy in his hand. “It’ll be the players that’ll win the game. I promise you. It won’t be me that’ll win it, and I promise I’ll do everything that I can to, and our staff, to have them ready for the game.”

The Patriots head coach has already joined a rare club as only the second person to reach the Super Bowl as both a player and an HC for the same franchise. The first was Gary Kubiak, who did it with the Denver Broncos. He was first Denver’s QB in Super Bowl XXI (1986 season), Super Bowl XXII (1987 season), and Super Bowl XXIV (1989 season), all losses, and later a coach who led Denver to win Super Bowl 50.

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Mike Vrabel also achieved another wild milestone. He has now led the Patriots to become the first team ever to reach the Super Bowl one year after a season with 13 losses. Yet there were no champagne-soaked celebrations in the Patriots’ locker room after the AFC Championship win. Patriots defensive tackle Milton Williams revealed exactly what the HC told the locker room after the game.

“No curfew tonight. But the bus is leaving at 8 in the morning – so if you ain’t on it, you ain’t playing in the Bowl,” Williams said while talking about Vrabel’s postgame message to his team.

That’s Mike Vrabel in a nutshell. He set a tone in New England’s locker room with a clear message: celebrate if you want, but don’t get comfortable. He knows better than anyone that the Super Bowl comes with zero excuses. But judging by the way Vrabel’s team is playing, who would bet against them now?