FOXBOROUGH — In his first padded practice as an NFL player in 1997, Mike Vrabel said he fought tight end Mitch Lyons at Pittsburgh Steelers training camp. With almost 30 more years of age and experience, Vrabel wants his current players to avoid punching their teammates.

When it comes to training camp fights, Mike Vrabel wants his players to do as he says, not as he did. Before the Patriots took the field for their first padded practice of the new season, Vrabel was asked to recall his first day in full pads as a Steelers rookie in 1997,