The Recent England Patriots have been operating “business as usual” as they prepare for the NFL Draft amid the drama surrounding head coach Mike Vrabel and reporter Dianna Russini.
Patriots general manager, Eliot Wolf, met with the media for the team’s pre-draft press conference on Monday, April 13, where he insisted that Vrabel, 50, has been “very involved” within the franchise’s draft-day planning.
“Business as usual,” Wolf, 44, said. “He’s been in there with us probably this round a little bit greater than he was last yr.”
Though Vrabel is generally the one to offer the pre-draft press conference, he just isn’t expected to deal with the media again until after the draft, in accordance with ESPN. The draft will happen April 23 to 25 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
“He’s been in there, he’s been contributing,” Wolf added of Vrabel. “He’s watched a ton of the players. He tries to observe every player that we give to every position coach…he has an opinion on these guys. It’s helpful. Sometimes there’s players that the scouts like, me included, and hell be like well that is the explanation perhaps this guy’s not one of the best fit for us.”
Vrabel is entering his second season as Recent England head coach after leading the Patriots to the Super Bowl in yr one. His offseason took a shocking turn last week when Page Six published photos of him and Russini, 43, together at a luxury resort in Sedona, Arizona. The images include shots of the 2 linking hands and with their arms wrapped around one another.
Each Vrabel and Russini have insisted that the photos, taken March 28, are innocent and that they were on the resort with other friends who weren’t pictured. As of Monday, April 13, nobody has come forward to say they were with the 2 they usually have declined to say who was with them.
“These photos show a totally innocent interaction and any suggestion otherwise is laughable,” Vrabel told Page Six. “This doesn’t deserve any further response.”
Russini added, “The photos don’t represent the group of six individuals who were hanging out in the course of the day. Like most journalists within the NFL, reporters interact with sources away from stadiums and other venues.”
The Athletic initially stood by Russini but has since launched an investigation into the photos, hoping to find out who, if anyone, was with the pair on the resort.
“The Athletic is investigating the conduct of a senior N.F.L. reporter, Dianna Russini, after the publication of photographs that showed her with Mike Vrabel, the top coach for the Recent England Patriots, in accordance with an individual aware of the inquiry,” The Athletic confirmed on Saturday, April 11.
The report continued, “The Athletic’s editorial guidelines require that their journalists avoid any activities that pose a conflict of interest or the looks of a conflict, in order to not call into query their credibility.”
Russini won’t be permitted to work in the course of the investigation.