So far, the Patriots’ decision to hire Mike Vrabel has paid off.

After back-to-back 4-13 seasons, New England appears to be experiencing a football renaissance, sitting atop the AFC East at 5-2.

During the Patriots’ 31-13 blowout win over the Titans, CBS analyst Charles Davis broke down why other teams will be looking for a coach like Vrabel during future searches.

““As we start coaching searches in the NFL, and we’re gonna have a few more,” Davis said. “I believe people are going to use Mike Vrabel as a model about what they’re looking for in their next head football coach.

“With an organization, he pulls together everyone, right? Yes, he’s known as a defensive coach. I get that,” Davis added. “But the relationship he’s forged with his quarterback, Drake Maye, who’s playing at a really high level, lets you know that he’s locked in on everything on this team, special teams, offense, defense, the whole deal.”

New England, of course, was only able to hire Vrabel because the Titans decided to fire him after the 2023 season. Vrabel spent a year as a consultant with the Cleveland Browns, whom New England will face at Gillette Stadium next week, before returning to the franchise he won three Super Bowls with as a player.

Vrabel played linebacker for the Patriots, but he has shown an ability to connect with players in all three phases of the game. He has a hands on approach which involves him wearing a practice jersey at times during practice. He often refers to players, such as Stefon Diggs, by nicknames in press conferences.

Defense is Vrabel’s forte, and he inherited a team that was already pretty good at stopping the run. Their pass-defense is a work in progress. But, the biggest transformation has taken place on offense where Maye, Diggs, and Josh McDaniels have helped revive a once-dead down field passing attack.

The quick turnaround suggests that Vrabel’s approach works beyond the areas where he’s most comfortable with, Davis said.

“He has his hands on everything, every part of the organization and the pulse,” Davis said. “He’s like the antidote to all the offensive guys that we talk about. We use the word presence a lot with coaches. Does anyone have more presence than Mike Vrabel? He’s got it.”

Khari A. Thompson

Sports Reporter

Khari Thompson covers professional sports for Boston.com. Before joining the team in 2022, Khari covered college football for The Clarion Ledger in Jackson, Miss.

When actor-singer-songwriter Craig Winberry would do cabaret shows, he always put some George Michael in the set.

Sometimes the Michael song came with some cheek — after returning from Carnival in Brazil one year, Winberry closed a show in a speedo and headdress singing Wham’s “I’m Your Man.” Sometimes it came with tender sincerity, such as the big ballad “One More Try.”

So when Winberry saw a casting call for something called “The Life and Music of George Michael,” he felt he’d been preparing for the audition for years.

“The summer of 2021, I’m having a horrible day, I turn on my phone and I see this casting notice,” Winberry told the Boston Herald. “I was like, ‘That’s me.’”

“It was like I’d already been working toward this project,” he added.

“The Life and Music of George Michael” went out in 2022 and built some buzz. By 2024, it had grown into a sensation — crisscrossing the States and Canada, touring Australia, selling out Boston’s Emerson Colonial Theater. The show returns for two performances at the Colonial on Nov. 1.

The show features two Michaels — Connor Antico covers the Wham era; Winberry takes on the more weighty solo stuff. As a longtime fan, Winberry understands that Michael’s legacy is nuanced, complex, and massive.

“That poppy, teeny bop sound was Wham,” Winberry said. “But George knew he wasn’t always going to be that 19-year-old bouncing up and down. He said, ‘I have other parts of my life that I want to show you.’”

That means this performance gives you bubble gum such as the irrepressible “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go.” But it also dives into 1998 international hit “Outside” — the singer’s bold declaration of gay pride (and a hell of a dance jam).

“I grew up with (Michael’s music) so I understand it, especially some of the coded language,” Winberry said.

Winberry says he would never call himself an impersonator, but he and the band have an ear and eye for the icon’s meticulous approach to pop. Lyrically and musically, artistically and emotionally, nobody matured through finely-crafted Top 40 masterpieces like Michael did from Wham’s “Freedom” to “Faith” to “Freedom ’90” to “Outside” (all of which are in the show). Oh, and that band, half of them are Berklee alums with mighty chops.

Between tours, Winberry has made time for his own voice. Earlier this year, he released an album of his music, “Sidewalk Survival Guide.” And if you dig GM’s electronica-touched ’90s stuff, you’ll want to give it a spin.

“It’s for anyone who is on their way to somewhere else but still trying to find themselves,” Winberry said. “And there’s all types of music, gospel, a nice ballad, some bossa nova, there’s pop.”

(C’mon, how GM is all of that?)

When not spending time on his own stuff, Winberry is thrilled to bring this show to Michael’s ever-expanding fan base. No matter where you are on your journey, you’ll find something to dance to — and something to think about — at “The Life and Music of George Michael.”

For tickets and details, visit thelifeandmusicofgm.com

Boston Police are investigating a string of cash register robberies at four Boston stores in different neighborhoods over the past week.

In each robbery, police said the suspect pretended to buy something before grabbing the cash register when the clerk opened it and fleeing with the cash inside. Police didn’t say how much cash was stolen in each robbery.

No weapons were displayed during any of the robberies.

In all the robberies, one suspect was described as wearing a black puffy jacket with the hood up, black pants and a black surgical mask.

The cash register robberies happened at stores on River Street and Fairmount Avenue in Hyde Park, Parker Street in Roxbury and Heath Street in Jamaica Plain.

Anyone with information can contact police anonymously through the CrimeStoppers tip line at 1-800-494-TIPS. Tips can also be texted with the word “TIP” to CRIME (27463) or reported online. Photos and video can also be submitted through CrimeStoppers anonymously.

In another incident this week in Boston, police are looking for a group of people who shoplifted the Lululemon store on Newbury Street on Oct. 13. Surveillance video captured three people fleeing the store shortly after 7 p.m. with armfuls of clothing while a fourth person ran after them. They were last seen leaving the area in a dark-colored sedan and heading outbound on Newbury Street.

According to police, the stolen merchandise was worth $6,140.