Mike Vrabel reportedly returned to the office on Monday, two days after missing the final rounds of the NFL draft to attend counseling. Vrabel chose to attend counseling over work after photographs had emerged of himself with former The Athletic NFL insider Dianna Russini.
Vrabel was with the Patriots last Thursday for the first round of the draft, hours after pictures of the coach and reporter together in 2020 had emerged. On Friday, Pablo Torre revealed that Vrabel and Russini had been together at a pool party at the NFL’s annual meetings.
While Vrabel was away the Patriots drafted six players. Eliot Wolf, the team’s executive vice president of player personnel, said that the organization would miss his stability as a person on Saturday. After a weekend away, that stability has returned to the office.
MORE: What Mike Vrabel Said About Dianna Russini Scandal, Taking Leave During NFL Draft
The timing of all this continues to be a little confusing. The third day of the NFL draft seems like a pretty big day as far as putting together the next season's football team. No one expected Vrabel to be gone until training camp or anything, but if the counseling was so important that he had to start it on Saturday why didn't he start it immediately and miss the first round of the draft? And if it was only going to last one day, why not just wait one more day and be back at work on Tuesday?
If Vrabel and the Patriots were hoping this wouldn't become a distraction, that has not worked out. Vrabel and Russini have become such a big story that publications like PEOPLE are covering whether or not the team was in contact with Vrabel during the draft. According to Wolf, they were not in contact with Vrabel because he needed the time away.
Now he's back. The press should be asking lots of questions whenever he steps to the podium again. Presumably he'll say he's dealing with a private, personal matter, but according to Wolf he was completely cut off during one of the biggest days on the football calendar, which pretty clearly makes this a professional matter.
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STEPHEN DOUGLAS
Stephen Douglas is a senior writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has worked in media since 2008 and now casts a wide net with coverage across all sports. Douglas spent more than a decade with The Big Lead and previously wrote for Uproxx and The Sporting News. He has three children, two degrees and one now unverified Twitter account.
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