Mike Vrabel Looks Forward To Patriots' Future Following Dianna Russini Story
Days away from the start of the 2026 NFL Draft, New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel spoke to the media for the first time following the release of a Page Six story surrounding himself and The Athletic lead NFL reporter Dianna Russini.
Photos showed the two at a luxury hotel in Arizona embracing and holding hands near the time of NFL league meetings. Following the release, Russini has since resigned from her position with The Athletic. The Page Six report also detailed how Russini was previously with ESPN, in which she worked with Vrabel during her initial NFL beat of the Tennessee Titans in 2018. Despite the headlines and social media postings that have followed the initial report, Vrabel's comments to the media have indicated his future with the Patriots is his primary focus.
It was previously reported that NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy confirmed the league is not reviewing Vrabel's behavior as part of the league's personal conduct policy, which states players, coaches and executives are required to avoid ‘conduct detrimental to the integrity of and public confidence in the National Football League.
Vrabel implied acknowledgement of this in his initial statement, saying that he is excited to continue coaching the New England franchise.
Mike Vrabel's full statement since the Page Six Diana Russini story: pic.twitter.com/oEK8iYfA0D
- Ethan Hurwitz (@HurwitzSports) April 21, 2026
"We believe in order to be successful on and off the field, you have to make good decisions. That includes me, that starts with me. We never want our actions to negatively infect affect the team. We never want to be the cause of a distraction," Vrabel said in his initial statement. "Those are comments and questions that I've answered for the team and with the team, we'll keep those private and to ourselves. [I] care deeply about this football team and am 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 the my family, this organization, the team, the staff, the coaches, everybody, our fans, most importantly, will get the best version of me going forward."
Patriots Players Are No. 1 Priority for Mike Vrabel
In his first media address, Vrabel said his reason for delay in addressing the Russini situation was so he could discuss the matter with his roster first.
"I understand I could have addressed you guys sooner, but it was important to me to have a conversation with the players, which I did yesterday, very candidly as we began our offseason program," Vrabel said. "It was never my intention to have them speak to you or address you before I did."
Following his statement, Vrabel would go on to take questions from reporters, including some that involved his conversations with his players and team ownership. While he did deflect to his initial comments, Vrabel detailed that his mission right now is to focus on his team and players.
"I think I addressed what I felt like was important. [That's] focusing on our football team and the importance of teaching these guys, bringing a new team together, 13 new players ... [I] just want to focus on the football team and then getting off to a good start," Vrabel would go on to say. "We're preparing for a journey, and what we talked about, and that journey takes a lot of different twists and turns positively, as we saw last year, also times negatively."
The news of Vrabel and Russini came after the Patriots lost to the Seattle Seahawks - 29-13 - in Super Bowl LX. Vrabel was announced as New England's 16th head coach in franchise history on Jan. 13, 2025.
Vrabel is a former linebacker who is a three-time Super Bowl champion with the Patriots and was voted into the Patriots Hall of Fame in 2023.
Following opening the presser surrounding the situation with Russini, the media and Vrabel shifted to discussion of the upcoming draft, which begins on April 23.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/nfl/patriots/onsi as Mike Vrabel Looks Forward To Patriots' Future Following Dianna Russini Story.
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This story was originally published April 21, 2026 at 10:41 AM.