Mike Vrabel and his offseason drama with former The Athletic NFL reporter Dianna Russini became a national storyline. However, inside the New England Patriots’ locker room, the response was far more personal and less scandalous.
Rhamondre Stevenson, Other Patriots Players Reveal Stance on Mike Vrabel
After photos surfaced showing Vrabel with Russini at an adults-only resort, the Patriots coach was at the center of attention wherever he went or was spotted. The fallout became serious enough that Vrabel stepped away on the third day of the NFL draft to seek counseling.
Yet the biggest question for the Patriots wasn’t whether the tabloids would keep digging, because they obviously would. It was whether the controversy would fracture the relationship between Vrabel and his players.
Patriots running back Rhamondre Stevenson revealed Vrabel’s mindset towards the team.
“He feels like he did wrong by us,” Stevenson told ESPN. The running back also made clear that the players weren’t consumed by the private details surrounding the story.
“None of the team was really even worried about specifics,” he added.
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For another Patriots player, however, the situation was more complicated than simply brushing it aside. “It’s difficult to explain to people outside the building how he approached it and how players took it,” the player told ESPN anonymously.
“Of course players care about [what happened]. Vrabel is a great leader. Sometimes you have to mess up to become an even better leader.”
Ultimately, Patriots players chose to judge Vrabel by what happened inside the building since he became the team’s head coach.
Safety Kevin Byard also reached out to Vrabel as the news headlines kept coming out and said, “I’m here for you if you need anything… I don’t care what’s going on in the media.”
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“We all fall short sometimes; that’s what makes us human,” Byard added. “I’m not going to question a guy’s choices… as long as they don’t affect things on the field, and I haven’t seen that.”
The whole controversy nevertheless changed the atmosphere around Vrabel. When he first addressed reporters after the photos emerged, he acknowledged having “some difficult conversations” with people he cared about before missing the third day of the draft to seek counseling.
The episode also produced consequences beyond the Patriots. Several women covering the NFL said they became more cautious in their interactions with league personnel. Some described concerns about optics, meetings, texting, and building professional relationships.
Meanwhile, Vrabel’s long-standing practice of giving the first question at media availabilities to a veteran woman reporter has remained part of his coaching routine.
