It wouldn’t be the first time the Patriots played fast and loose with the rules.

MMQB’s Albert Breer thinks the way New England is handling their head coaching search is “a sham” and “complete garbage.”

Breer’s frustration stems from the Patriots interviewing Byron Leftwich and Pep Hamilton — two minority candidates — on Tuesday, which satisfied the NFL’s Rooney Rule and allows the team to fast track their hiring.

Patriots great and former тιтans coach Mike Vrabel, who is interviewing with the team on Thursday, is the clear front-runner for the position.

“It looks like a sham. I mean, I’ll call it what I think it is,” Breer told NBC Sports Boston. “Those are two guys — and all due respect to Pep Hamilton and Byron Leftwich — I think they’d struggle to get coordinator jobs this year.”

Breer said he believes that Hamilton and Leftwich, both former NFL offensive coordinators, were chosen because they are not currently connected to NFL teams and thus the Patriots could quickly conduct in-person interviews with both, which is what the Rooney Rule demands.

If you are currently on an NFL staff, candidates have to wait till after the Divisional Round to interview with other teams.

“… So the reason you would do this and hustle two guys in who aren’t working for teams right now is because that’s the only way to check that box so you can actually go forward with hiring somebody,” Breer said.

Vrabel interviewed with the Jets last week and is scheduled to talk with the Bears on Wednesday, however it would be a surprise if he ended up anywhere but New England.

The Patriots fired Jerod Mayo after going 4-13 in his first season as head coach in what owner Robert Kraft called “one of the hardest decisions I have ever made.”

It has been speculated that the Patriots could announce Vrabel as their next head coach as soon as this week.

“I think it’s complete garbage,” said Breer, who covered the Patriots for years at the Boston Herald and Boston Globe. “Like, what gives you the right to skip the process that the Raiders have to go through, that the Bears have to go through, the Jets have to go through? Teams that are competing for him. What gives you the right to jump the line?

“… Again, it’s like putting yourself in a different — it’s, ‘We’re not subject to the rules’ which this organization, we should note, has had problems with in the past.”

The Patriots hired Mayo, who like Vrabel is a former Patriots player, last January, just one day after splitting with Bill Belichick following 24 years and six Super Bowls.

Breer is concerned that rushing the process again could be costly.

“If Mike Vrabel is the coach, and I think he is the No. 1 candidate — and don’t get me wrong I think he’d be a great hire — I think you’d give him a much better situation if you go through a two full-week process and get to see how other teams do it,” Breer said. “Instead of hiring him on Thursday to go for some PR win because the owner doesn’t like the way he is being perceived right now.”