The New England Patriots didn’t have Mike Vrabel on hand for Day 3 of the 2026 NFL Draft, for reasons that have been quite publicly established.
As announced earlier this week, the Patriots head coach stepped away from the team to attend counseling after the release of several photos showing him with former Athletic reporter Dianna Russini in various social settings.
Vrabel called the counseling necessary for his family while speaking with reporters Thursday, so it was curious when Peter Schrager reported on ESPN that he had been in constant contact with the franchise “via telephone and text message” over the course of Saturday.
Schrager later retracted that report, tweeting there was originally a plan for Vrabel to be in contact, but the Patriots “ultimately chose not to interrupt him and his family.”
Patriots vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf confirmed that was the case while speaking with reporters following the end of the draft, via the Patriots’ official transcript:
Q: Were you in contact with Mike at all today, and if so, how often were you guys in contact?
EW: So, last night we kind of talked through things and made the decision that the time away really needs to be time away, so we were not in contact with Mike today other than some just, ‘Hope everything’s going OK’ kind of texts early this morning.
Q: And just to follow up, when you talked to him last night when Day 2 ended, what kind of message did he leave you guys with headed into today?
EW: Just words of encouragement. He knows he knows our process, and again, we talked about what kind of players we needed to add. We knew what kind of players that he liked, and obviously we drafted some of the guys that he had an affinity for today.
It’s unclear if Vrabel will be missing anymore activities for the Patriots following the draft, though the NFL has made it clear he won’t be investigated for possible violations of the league’s personal conduct policy.
Patriots owner Robert Kraft has also voiced full support for him.
Russini, meanwhile, resigned from The Athletic last week and deleted some of her social media accounts not long before the draft started. She said she made the decision to not give the story “further oxygen,” but The Athletic is still conducting an investigation into her conduct.
This is a story that changed quickly for its participants, as Russini and Vrabel had previously downplayed the initial photos as a mere encounter during trips with their respective friends. That story seems to have fallen apart via questions from The Athletic and more photos of the pair in other locales, and Vrabel has now said “My previous actions don’t meet the standard I hold myself to.”
