‘My family is great’: Two months after controversy, Vrabel says he is balancing football and family

FOXBOROUGH — Almost two months after the initial photographs of him and NFL reporter Dianna Russini went viral, Patriots coach Mike Vrabel said the process of balancing family and football has been going “really good.”

Read more Millions of people have been placed in new voting districts. Here’s where the redistricting stands.

“My family is great,” Vrabel said before Wednesday’s organized team activity practice. “I love [my wife] Jen. I love the boys [Tyler and Carter]. I love my personal friends.”

The last time Vrabel spoke to the media, on Day 1 of the NFL Draft, he stressed the importance of prioritizing his family, noting he would skip Day 3 of the draft to spend time with them outside of Massachusetts.

He returned to the building the following Monday and has since maintained an active presence during the team’s voluntary offseason program.

Asked if he’s managed to mitigate the distraction, Vrabel shifted the conversation to his enthusiasm to continue teaching the players.

“We all have to deal with things outside of here,” he said. “My focus and the excitement I have for coaching is what is most important right now. This is a great opportunity, the spring. We don’t have to worry about opponents. Our schedule is pretty much the same.”

Read more Boston Fleet’s Aerin Frankel a finalist for PWHL MVP

Asked about the effectiveness of his messaging thus far, Vrabel deferred to the players.

“I don’t want to speak for the players,” he said. “I’m trying to give them the information that’s going to help them do their job. I’ve talked about this, as far as the importance of the balance of their own success, which leads to great things for them and the people that they care about, and then also try to manage that with the team.”

Vrabel said he did not know whether he was going to miss any other football activities this spring. The Patriots will have two practices open to the media on June 2 and 9, as well as mandatory minicamp from June 15-17.

“I can only tell you I’m going to be there today,” Vrabel said. “I can’t tell you anything other than I’m going to be out there in full force. I mean that. Who knows what’s going to come up? Anything can happen.”

Read more Alabama asks Supreme Court to allow use of congressional map helping GOP, despite racial bias ruling