Mike Vrabel didn’t say much in his first public comments since Page Six published photos of the Patriots head coach and The Athletic’s former NFL insider Dianna Russini at an adults-only resort in Arizona in March, but he doesn’t seem to find it as “laughable” as he did in his initial statement on the matter.
Vrabel, who coached the Patriots to the Super Bowl last season, gave an on-camera statement to reporters at the team’s facility on Tuesday and then fielded questions off-camera, where he was asked about the situation with Russini.
One reporter asked the Patriots coach directly if he still felt that the implication of the photos was “laughable,” as he had said in his initial statement to Page Six, and Vrabel side-stepped the question.
“I appreciate the question. I’m going to focus on our football team,” he responded, according to a transcript from 98.5 The Sports Hub. “I think I’ve addressed what I felt like was important. So, we’ll be focusing on our football team and the importance of teaching these guys, bringing a new team together, 13 new players.”
He gave similar answers when he was asked about his thoughts on Russini resigning from The Athletic amid the controversy.
The publication of the photos, which show the two hanging out by a pool, and hugging and holding hands, set off a firestorm online and eventually led to the NFL insider stepping down from her job after The Athletic launched an investigation into her conduct.
Vrabel and Russini both denied that anything improper when Page Six reached out for comment, insisting they had been there with friends who were not visible in the photos.
In his initial statement, Vrabel said that the pictures “show a completely innocent interaction and any suggestion otherwise is laughable. This doesn’t deserve any further response.”
When Vrabel spoke on Tuesday, he told reporters that he had “some difficult conversations with people that I care about.”
“With my family, the organization, the coaches, the players, those have been positive and productive. We believe in order to be successful on and off the field, you have to make good decisions,” he said. “That includes me, that starts with me. We never want our actions to negatively affect the team. We never want to be the cause of a distraction. Those are comments and questions that I’ve answered for the team and with the team, and we’ll keep those private and to ourselves. Care deeply about this football team and excited to coach them. I also know that I’m going to attack each day with humility and focus.
“And what I can promise you is that my family, this organization, that the team, the staff, the coaches, everybody, our fans, most importantly, will get the best version of me going forward, and that’s what I know, and I’m excited to do that.”
The NFL is not planning on looking into Vrabel’s conduct, NFL spokesperson Brian McCarthy told ESPN.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
