The New England Patriots are embarking on a new journey this upcoming season after hiring Mike Vrabel as their new head coach. But former Patriots linebacker Tedy Bruschi, while cautiously optimistic about New England's playoff chances next season, thinks that the team will still have some work to do.

"I still see some growing pains next year," Bruschi told Yahoo Sports' Jason Fitz on Thursday, in the run-up to Super Bowl LIX. "I hope that they're competitive in December ... but right now they need a lot that needs to be done to help them."

The Patriots also re-hired Josh McDaniels as offensive coordinator, bringing him back for his 14th year with the team across three separate stints. Bruschi said that he wants McDaniels to help develop second-year quarterback Drake Maye next season.

"I wanna see the development of Drake," Bruschi said. "And Josh McDaniels, possibly knowing this is nowhere close to Tom Brady right now, so develop him (Maye) based on his talents."

Bruschi, who played in the league from 1996 to 2008, spent his entire career as a Patriot, winning three Super Bowls alongside Tom Brady. But a tumultuous couple of years in New England have made the team unrecognizable from Bruschi's era.

Brady left first, heading to Tampa Bay in 2020; a few years later, longtime head coach Bill Belichick parted ways with the team. New England owner Robert Kraft fired Belichick's replacement, Jerod Mayo, after just one season. Since Brady's departure, the Patriots have only made the postseason once, losing in the wild-card round in 2021. New England ended the 2024 season with a 4-13 record, for the second year in a row.

"It's hard for former players like myself to adjust to watch what's been going on there the last few years," Bruschi said. "We know the formula, right? You've seen this for 20 years, let's get this right and do the right things to build a football team. Are they back on the right track now? We'll see."