Five weeks since the New York Post first published photographs of Mike Vrabel and Dianna Russini at the Ambiente resort in Sedona, the story refuses to slow down. Russini resigned from The Athletic on April 14 before its internal review concluded. Vrabel missed Day 3 of the 2026 NFL Draft to attend counseling with his family.
In the weeks since, new images and details have emerged, but the New England Patriots have stood by their head coach. However, the scandal has transcended sports and become mainstream news, and it doesn’t seem to be going away anytime soon.
WEEI radio hosts Adam Jones and Rich Keefe, two of the most prominent voices in Boston, have called out how Vrabel is handling this saga, and their verdict is damning.
Why Mike Vrabel Needs to Acknowledge Wrongdoings to Survive the Dianna Russini Scandal
Jones set the scene bluntly on their show “Jones and Keefe,” framing this as a PR crisis that shows no sign of going away.
“What do you think he can do to help and to start winning a PR battle? Let’s face it, he is losing day after day after day after day,” Jones said. “The crisis management has been abysmal. He’s getting dragged on social media and from a PR standpoint. So how do you start to fix it? You acknowledge wrongdoings. Not blanket wrongdoings, but some actual acknowledgement. I don’t need specifics about what happened and where. Not just ‘I need to be a better husband.’
“But like some acknowledgement about what you did, some ownership about what you did, and an apology. I think that would go a long way towards putting this to rest and not snowballing and cascading every single day. If you’re interested in putting an end to it, that’s what you got to do. You don’t owe us an apology. You don’t have to apologize. It would probably help you and your situation.”
To Jones’ point, this situation has been botched by Vrabel and Co. from the start. When the Post first published the photos, Vrabel said it was a “completely innocent interaction and any suggestion otherwise is laughable.” Then, once additional photos leaked, his tune changed completely.
Vrabel has built his coaching brand around accountability, discipline and the elimination of distractions, which adds another layer to this saga.
Keefe believes that contradiction contributed to public sympathy eroding.
“For everybody saying all that matters is [what happens] on the field on Sunday, well, not according to him. He was saying that all this other stuff was super important, and then you’ve become the biggest distraction possible,” Keefe said. “But now you’re going to blame people for talking about it and posting pictures of it? This couldn’t have been a bigger distraction. How does he rectify all of that?”
Photos of Vrabel and Russini date back to 2020, when they were spotted kissing a New York bar. There’s also video of Vrabel and Russini renting a boat together in June 2021 when the latter was seven months pregnant. While Vrabel has admitted to having “some difficult conversations,” he hasn’t apologized or taken accountability.
“He really hasn’t apologized. He just did a sort of word salad…” Keefe said.
“If you apologize even for lying, not for the act, fine,” Jones added. “You can apologize for both if you want, but [at least] apologize for lying. … I think most fans probably would say, ‘Okay, he apologized. He copped to it. He acknowledged what he did. We can all move on.’ How’s another small picture like this going to hurt when he’s acknowledged what he’s done? I don’t think he owes it to anybody. I don’t think he has to [apologize]. But again, I think it would help. I think it would go a long way if you want to put this to bed.”
For now, Robert Kraft and the Patriots are publicly backing their coach. The NFL declined to open a formal investigation, as they are treating this as a personal matter.
However, if Vrabel wants to quiet the constant noise, Jones’ solution is a simple one: give a real apology and take some accountability.
