The Patriots are taking their Super Bowl 2026 prep to a whole new level.
Head coach Mike Vrabel is putting his team under conditions as close to the Big Game as possible before Sunday, and an hour into Friday’s practice, he sent the players into the locker room before blaring halftime performer Bad Bunny over the sound system, per the Ringer’s Lindsay Jones.
The 2026 Grammy winner’s music went on for 14 minutes — about the length of the halftime show — before the Patriots went back to the field to resume practice.
For a coach who has completely turned around a team that went 4-13 in 2024 and now sits just one win away from a Super Bowl title after a 14-3 season, Vrabel isn’t taking any chances, and that includes the influence Bad Bunny has over the crowd at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif.
The Patriots, who had not been to the playoffs since 2021 and to a Super Bowl since 2018, have discovered what they may have been missing in the past few years.
New England could be at the start of a new era headed by quarterback Drake Maye.
The 23-year-old, who will be the youngest quarterback in NFL history to start in a Super Bowl, has rescued the franchise from its post-Tom Brady era malaise that included unsuccessful runs with Cam Newton, Mac Jones and Bailey Zappe under center.
In just his second year in the league, Maye ranked fourth in passing yards (4,394) during the regular season behind MVP Matthew Stafford, Jared Goff and Dak Prescott.
Maye also had a 72 percent completion rate and used his legs effectively (450 rushing yards) to counter the on-and-off offensive line he has had to navigate all year.