Mike Vrabel was back in his office at the New England Patriots facility on Monday after taking the weekend off to strike some sort of balance between, as he put it, the two most important things in his life, which are his family and his football team.
But Vrabel balancing those two things may prove challenging because, as NFL observers are noting, he’s tried balancing acts in the past.
And failed.
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So it is of little surprise that his new narrative about balance is being met with skepticism around the NFL.
Vrabel spent Saturday and Sunday with his family amid a scandal involving former NFL insider for The Athletic Dianna Russini. Vrabel and Russini have been shown together in photos made public over the past three weeks at an Arizona resort embracing and holding hands as well as spending time in a hot tub and lounging by a pool.
The pair has also been captured together in other non-football settings dating back to 2020.
And even as Russini eventually resigned from The Athletic amid the media company’s investigation into the relationship and then deleted her X account, the coach has offered varying accounts and comments on the issue with the latest coming last Thursday when he made the point he would be spending time with his family and seeking counseling.
“I have committed to seeking counseling, starting this weekend,” Vrabel said in a statement announcing he’d miss the last day of the NFL Draft.
“What I believe is best for the two most important things in my life — my family and this football team — is for us to take the necessary steps to work together and to give them what I told them I’d give them, which is the best version of me,” Vrabel added just before the start of the draft on Thursday.
“That’s what we’re going to do. That’s going to start, that has started, that will continue this weekend and it will continue for however long it takes for me to give them and complete that promise of giving them the best version of me possible.”
And this is where Vrabel is already running into a credibility problem: People around the NFL are watching all this and doing what NFL people do by studying their opponent.
And some who spoke to OutKick with the understanding their names would not be used said they’re not buying Vrabel’s story.
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“What kind of counseling begins on the weekend?” one NFL talent evaluator asked.
“Is he getting counseling or getting away with his wife and kids, or just avoiding having to do another press conference where he refuses to tell the whole truth?” an NFC pro player director said.
“I’m having trouble keeping his story straight.”
The skepticism comes with some background because Vrabel has been practically all over the place since this story turned into something of a soap opera.
The coach initially dismissed the photos and accompanying story.
“These photos show a completely innocent interaction and any suggestion otherwise is laughable,” Vrabel told the New York Post in a statement.
Then the story picked up steam and Vrabel changed his dismissive tune.
“I don’t think those comments, um, I think that was an attempt to protect your family and I would never be dismissive,” Vrabel said.
Vrabel also was asked how long his indefinite time away from the team might last. He said he had no idea, suggesting it might take a while.
“I can’t answer that,” he said. “I can only say that whatever my family needs, that’s what I’ll provide … I’m not sure what’s going to be needed of me, but I just know I’m going to take the necessary steps with the people that I care about — that’s my family and this team.”
The family apparently didn’t need him as much as the Patriots did on Monday. The team last week started the offseason conditioning program which continues this week. Vrabel, back in the office, is expected to be around the facility for that.
And this:
Many people in the NFL have at different times heard Vrabel preach about the importance of family, dating back to his time as the Tennessee Titans head coach. During practically every draft, he’s made a point of asking his team’s picks about their family.
But, as one executive pointed out, Vrabel’s long-understood concern for family — including his own — now rings hollow as everyone forms opinions about the relationship the coach had with Russini that came at the expense of his family.
