Mike Vrabel is back in his element on the football field, but the Dianna Russini story still hovers ominously
FOXBOROUGH — For 90 minutes Wednesday, Mike Vrabel was in his element.
Vrabel bounced from station to station on a sunny, 85-degree day as the Patriots held their second organized team activity of the spring, a voluntary practice in which the players could do 11-on-11 drills for the first time since February’s Super Bowl loss. Vrabel taught special teams technique to the rookies, gave pass rush tips to veteran acquisition Dre’Mont Jones, and played free safety on the scout team defense.
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“Same guy, getting guys ready to roll,” defensive tackle Milton Williams said. “He ain’t changed one bit.”
But for the last two months, Vrabel decidedly has been out of his element. The reigning NFL Coach of the Year and AFC champion got knocked down a few pegs by the New York Post and TMZ, which published several batches of intimate photos of Vrabel and NFL reporter Dianna Russini.
It turned Vrabel into tabloid fodder for weeks. He endured photographers staking him out at the airport, and social media rumors about paternity tests. He missed the final day of the NFL Draft to fly to Utah for what he deemed “counseling,” turning the episode squarely into a football story. He survived it all with his job, and, seemingly, marriage intact, but his ego and reputation bruised.
“I appreciate that my family is great,” Vrabel said. “I love [my wife] Jen, I love the boys, I love my personal friends.”
Wednesday’s pre-practice news conference was the first time in five weeks that Vrabel met with reporters. Since then, two more batches of photos were published.
Of the 14 questions Vrabel faced Wednesday, five were related to the Russini episode. His discomfort was noticeable, from the way he quickly changed the subject to a few long, filibustering answers.
“The excitement that I have for coaching is what is most important right now,” Vrabel said. “This is a great opportunity. It’s just about teaching. This is the time in the spring where they can focus on not only conditioning, but all the details that are going to help them. That’s really all I know and that’s really all I want to be able to do.”
A question about balancing family and football turned into a dissertation on the rules of NFL offseason football. Vrabel also jumped on the opportunity to talk football matters — bouncing back from the Super Bowl loss, watching practice film in team meetings, and teaching his brand of football to 44 new players on the roster.
Vrabel didn’t even seem to mind fielding questions about a couple of players who appear to be skipping the voluntary practices over contractual matters, cornerback Christian Gonzalez and receiver Kayshon Boutte. Anything to get the topic away from his personal life.
“I know that our defensive coaches have had conversations with Christian,” Vrabel said. “Again, I wish that they were all here so that we can coach them. But the ones that are here, that’s where our focus will be, and we’ll pour everything that we have into those players.”
The Vrabel-Russini story may have finally run out of steam, with no new photos released in the last three weeks. Returning to the field for OTAs is the first step in Vrabel and the Patriots moving past the story and getting back to football.
Drake Maye supported Vrabel three weeks ago, saying he’s “got the right mind-set” and calling him “a great human being.” On Wednesday, Maye only faced questions about football.
“It’s fun having new guys in the offense and me trying to teach them what I know about it,” Maye said. “Another year in the same offense — it’s been the first time in maybe four years. It’s great to have that.”
But as much as Vrabel and the Patriots want to get back to football, the Russini story still hovers ominously. Two factors remain relevant. One, will the episode make it tougher for Vrabel to lead his team? Williams may have said Vrabel hasn’t changed, and Vrabel looked like the same leader at Wednesday’s practice, but we don’t really know if Vrabel’s reputation took a hit behind closed locker room doors.
“I don’t want to speak for the players,” Vrabel said. “I feel great. I feel like I’m trying to give them the information that is going to help them do their job.”
The other relevant factor is that Vrabel doesn’t have much control over the story, as evidenced repeatedly over the last two months. Who knows if more photos exist, or where the story will go if Russini, who resigned from her job at The Athletic, breaks her silence? Vrabel already missed Day 3 of the draft, and acknowledged he doesn’t know if he’ll be drawn away from Foxborough again.
“I can only tell you I’m going to be there today,” Vrabel said. “And I mean that because who knows what’s going to come up? Anything could happen. So, I’m going to focus on today and the excitement that we’ve had and that we’ve built so far.”
Wednesday’s practice surely was a welcome respite for Vrabel. But the Patriots’ coach seems to be looking over his shoulder, wondering if the story is about to blow up on him again.
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