Mike Vrabel addressed the Diana Russini matter in person for the first time on Tuesday, as the New England Patriots began media availabilities during their offseason conditioning program.
To begin: No, he didn’t admit or deny anything.
There was an underlying tone of contrition. But there was no apology about anything.
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Yeah, too late
“I’ve 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, ” Vrabel told reporters at the start of his first press conference since the saga and photos attached to it became public.
“We believe in order to be successful on and off the field, you have to make a good decisions. That includes me. That starts with me. I never want our actions to negatively affect the team. We never want to be the cause of a distraction.”
Vrabel and Russini were photographed together at a Sedona, Arizona private resort by an unknown person who sold the photos to the New York Post, which published them on Page Six.
The photos of the head coach and NFL reporter sunbathing by a pool, in a hot tub, and on the roof of a bungalow holding hands and embracing caused a league-wide uproar. Russini, the subject of an investigation by her employer The Athletic, resigned as a result.
The Athletic’s investigation into the matter is ongoing.
The NFL has no intention of currently starting an investigation into the matter as a possible violation of the Personal Conduct Policy. And the Patriots intend to keep the conversations between Vrabel and owner Robert Kraft and the players as private as possible.
Although both Russini and Vrabel released statements claiming no wrong-doing and said other people were present when they were together, neither had spoken publicly about the issue – until Vrabel did.
The two-week delay in addressing the matter caused Vrabel to open his statement by addressing New England area reporters who cover the team on a daily basis.
“Let me first begin by saying thank you,” the coach said. “Thank you for your patience, that you’ve shown in a personal and private matter for me, and obviously everybody involved. I know that that’s not easy for you, and I respect that, and I appreciate your efforts in doing so.
“I understand I could have, you know, trusted 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, which everyone is excited to be a part of.”
Vrabel said that club vice president of media relations and communication Stacey James pointed out to him that players were scheduled to speak to reporters on Tuesday afternoon. And that would put those players in a position to address their head coach’s situation with a female reporter before the coach did.
That helped force Vrabel’s hand.
“It was never my intention to have them speak to you or address you before I did,” Vrabel said. “And so I asked him to come in today and to talk with you.
“You know, I also don’t want to take away from our, you know, the draft, the weekend of the draft. This is an important time for us, our organization and the excitement and the joy that those players are going to have that we bring onto our football team.
“They’re starting an amazing journey, one that should be celebrated as we welcome them onto our team.”
