Mike Vrabel reportedly returned to the Patriots on Monday as the team’s offseason program continued. Vrabel spent the weekend away from the Patriots during Day 3 of the NFL draft to attend counseling and put his family first amid the viral photos of him and former The Athletic reporter Dianna Russini.
On Tuesday after Vrabel’s return, both veteran linebacker Robert Spillane and tight end Hunter Henry were asked about the coach amid the controversy, becoming the first players on the team to publicly address the situation.
"I thought he did a great job. He's been the same Vrabes, bringing a lot of energy in the room,” Hunter said of the message Vrabel gave to the team, via Doug Kyed of the Boston Herald.
“Obviously, I know you guys want to hear about everything that's going on, but to be honest with you, we're just focused,” Hunter also said, viaSophie Weller. “I’m focused on what we got going on right now in this building with this team.”
Spillane said, via Kyed, “Coach coaches football, and he keeps the main thing the main thing. I know he’s dealing with personal issues, but when we’re in the building, we speak football.”
"I love Coach, and I'm going to be here to support him as he would be there to support me through anything,” Spillane added.
Photos of Vrabel and Russini holding hands, hugging and spending time together at an Arizona resort were first published by the New York Post three weeks ago. Days later, The Athletic announced they were investigating Russini amid a potential conflict of interest, and she ended up resigning.
Vrabel did not address the photos until last week, after he was able to address his players following the start of the Patriots’ offseason program. He announced later in the week he would be missing the third day of the draft to attend counseling. On the morning of the first round of the draft, more pictures of him and Russini dropped from when they were spotted at a bar together in New York City in 2020.
“My previous actions don’t meet the standard that I hold myself to,” Vrabel said last Thursday. “They don’t. And what I believe is best for the two most important things in my life: my family and this football team, is for us to take the necessary steps to work together and to give them what I told them I’d give them, which is the best version of me—and that’s what we’re going to do. And that’s going to start, that has started, and that’ll continue this weekend, and it’ll continue for however long it takes for me to give them—and to complete that promise of giving them the best version of me possible.”
Reports initially indicated that while not present, Vrabel was expected to remain in contact with the Patriots during Day 3 of the draft when they made six picks. The team later shared that they were instead not in contact with him through the final day of the draft.
Though Vrabel addressed the media multiple times before the draft to shift the focus away from him and back on the players and rookies, the controversy remains the primary talking point surrounding the team. Vrabel said when he first addressed the matter that “we never want to be the cause of a distraction,” but thus far, this distraction has yet to go away.
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EVA GEITHEIM
Eva Geitheim is an NFL writer at Sports Illustrated. Prior to joining SI in December 2024, she wrote for Newsweek, Gymnastics Now and Dodgers Nation. A Bay Area native, she has a bachelor’s in communications from UCLA. When not writing, she can be found baking or rewatching Gilmore Girls.
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