APRIL 28: As confirmed by Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports, Vrabel will continue to attend counseling moving forward while also attending to his head coaching duties in between. The balance struck on this front will be key for Vrabel and the Patriots as the offseason progresses.
APRIL 27: Last week injected a football element to the Mike Vrabel-Dianna Russini saga, bringing it to the PFR pages. The second-year Patriots HC said he would miss Day 3 of the draft, spending time with his family as he confirmed he would begin counseling.
Vrabel’s announcement came after the New York Post dropped more incriminating photos of he and Russini, the latest batch showing them together at a New York City bar in March 2020. Vrabel spoke briefly at a news conference before Day 1 of the draft but has not been available to the media since. Coaches speak after draft days, and the Patriots made six picks on Day 3.
Although Vrabel was away from the team Saturday, NBC Sports Boston’s Phil Perry notes the 2025 Coach of the Year has returned to the Pats’ facility Monday as voluntary workouts continue.
ESPN’s Peter Schrager indicated Saturday that Vrabel was in contact with the Patriots, but the veteran reporter later backtracked, indicating that while an expectation existed the HC would be in contact with the team during the draft the sides ultimately were not in communication. De facto GM Eliot Wolf said Saturday that he and Vrabel did not communicate regarding draft matters.
“Last night we kind of talked through things and made the decision that the time away really needs to be time away,” Wolf said, via MassLive.com’s Karen Guregian, “so we were not in contact with Mike today other than some just, ‘Hope everything’s going OK’ kind of texts early this morning.”
The initial photographs from 2026 released by the Post showed Vrabel and Russini hugging and holding hands at a resort in Arizona. The Post’s subsequent photo drop came hours after Vrabel announced he would be away from the Patriots on Day 3 of the draft. The 2020 photos showed Vrabel and Russini kissing at a New York bar. Vrabel, 50, was the Titans’ HC in March 2020; Russini was an ESPN reporter at that time. Vrabel and his wife, Jen, have two sons; the couple has been married since 1999. Russini has been married since September 2020. She had been The Athletic’s top NFL insider in recent years but resigned her post this month as an internal investigation began.
Vrabel was with Wolf, Ryan Cowden and Co. in the Pats’ draft room on Thursday and Friday; still, his Day 3 absence became the story coming out of the defending AFC champions’ draft. Vrabel said (via the Boston Herald’s Doug Kyed) he could not confirm whether he would miss more football-related activities because of this scandal.
“I can’t answer that. I can only say that whatever my family needs, that’s what I’m going to provide,” Vrabel said. “But I also understand what’s needed for me here.”
Wolf held final say on Day 3 of the draft, he confirmed (via Guregian). Vrabel and Wolf work collaboratively, but when the Patriots won the Vrabel derby last year, it was understood he would hold significant sway regarding personnel. Both Vrabel and Wolf report to ownership. It is worth wondering if Wolf will take on more responsibility as Vrabel navigates continued fallout from these reports.
The Patriots will begin OTAs May 27; their mandatory minicamp will run from June 15-17. It will be interesting to see how available to the media Vrabel will be during those periods, as a lengthy break falls annually between mid-June and training camp in late July. This scandal has not shown signs of slowing down yet, and Vrabel beginning counseling during the draft made this one of the stranger draft-weekend storylines in recent NFL history. The Patriots backed their successful HC when he revealed he would be absent for Day 3. While Vrabel’s high-profile off-field issue has the potential to overshadow more Pats matters, he will certainly be expected to attend OTAs and minicamp before the midsummer hiatus.
Wow that will teach him not to be a lying cheating scumbag. You showed him.
The Patriot way…lie, cheat, and steal.
Don’t forget happy endings in Miami.
Dirtbag…
He had an extramarital affair with a prominent NFL journalist that started when Drake Maye was in high school, but I’m sure missing the day of the draft mostly dedicated to depth, special teams, and camp bodies made everything all better.
Why is the Patriots organization involving themselves in this at all…?
Well that was quick, must have saw a faith healer and was cured instantly.
D Watson and the old Ravens FG kicker should hire them as well.
Maybe Vrabel caught ‘ General Sherman’ Finally and then threw him back and won his wife’s heart back… maybe that is what happened over this past weekend
Dianna Russini named her son Michael
The Patriots draft board was likely completed a month ago. Anyone in the front office could have filled out the card and handed it in to Roger at that point. As for Vrabel, it is clear he isn’t going to get off easy at home for 6+ years of infidelity.
No doubt. And people act like a HC scouts players in the 4th-7th range. Get real.
Nothing like a bunch of moralizing hypocrites, who feel a need to hitch up their overalls, and call out the biblical sins of the modern world.
Who knows what the actual rate is, but various studies have put the percentage of American men that engage in extramarital relationships in the 25% range, and women, closer to 15%. Your boss has cheated, your siblings have cheated, your favorite musicians and athletes have cheated, and, heck, knowing how this usually works, probably some of the most outspoken tut-tutters here have probably cheated, too.
Cheating on your spouse, girlfriend, boyfriend, whatever, is a personal issue, between two people. So long as it’s consensual, so long as it doesn’t violate any laws, so long as one party does not hold a position of power or authority over the other, it’s a problem for the couple to figure out. Break up bitterly, reconcile, beg for forgiveness, start over, move on – none of these questions speak to anyone’s employment circumstances – again, so long as this isn’t a workplace relationship with an imbalance of power dynamic.
Quit clutching your pearls, let the Vrabels figure this out, and talk about something that’s actually related to sports and football. Mike Vrabel’s fidelity to the vows of marriage “ain’t” it.
OK, let’s bring it back to football. I wonder how Vrabel will talk to a room of 53 men about accountability, discipline and “doing your job” when he can’t even handle the most basic commitment in his personal life.
Gotta be honest I doubt most NFL players care. I wouldnt be surprised if a large amount of them are cheaters as well. These are football players, they are not exactly the bastion of morality here lol
If he was banging the legal age baby sitter doubt this would be a news story unless him and the wife got into it and cops got involved
But sleeping around with an NFL insider / sports journalist falls under your whole position of power authority over another since it’s Vrabels job to ensure what info gets leaked to media and what doesn’t from his coaches and players.
How’s he gonna tell his coaches and players don’t talk to the media gag order style Bellichek employed for years and could teach a master class on the subject when Vrabel was out banging a reporter engaging in pillow talk most likely.
Undermines his whole authority as head coach when you’re relying on do as I say not as I do trying to maintain secrecy in your own locker room
Depending on the state, adultery IS a crime. However I largely agree that although its detestable behavior, its not reasonable to be upset about some random person we’ve likely never met cheating on their spouse
This goes beyond infidelity. Getting involved with someone who reports on your work is a big ethical no no for both of them. Things are also different when you’re getting paid millions of dollars to do a very public job as one of the faces of a multi billion dollar business.
Kidding – What a stupid post. “Consensual cheating” (never heard of such a thing, if consensual it’s not cheating) is not between two people, because the 3rd person in this doesn’t know. I cannot believe the moral pretzel you had to twist yourself into to make us “moralizing hypocrites” for thinking an extramarital affair is wrong. I sir, am not a hypocrite, as I take my vows to my wife seriously. I feel bad for whoever gets conned into being your partner, they have some hard times ahead.
It’s PROBABLY not a crime, but it IS a pretty basic personal failing that’s indicative, IMO, of just being a scummy person overall. I don’t think I could trust an employer who can’t even be trusted by their own partner.
Also it’s not like *we’re* the ones making a big deal out of it. The Patriots made this very public gesture.
Common guys we are being really hard on Mike Vrabel
Maybe it’s as simple as Vrabel misunderstood what “insider” actually meant
*inside her
Time away? One day? Patriots making this worse than it needs to be. Stay out of it
They made it better than it needed to be. After all, Vrabel played for the Greatest Of All Time! and was World Champions!
Im so glad i have UFL and can completely ignore nfl offseason nonsense
The only news the UFL can generate is that they have gone bust again…but we’re happy if you’re happy 🙂
Year 5 buddy
Keep hating , we’ll keep enjoying football
Patriot Way
If Vrabel is looking for sympathy, he’d better check the dictionary…..he’s forlorned because he got caught….boo hoo hoo.
Must be some miracle cure that allows Vrabel to resume his job. In any other profession, he would’ve been forced to resign the moment his affair was exposed.
It’s really no one’s business except for those involved