The story that won't go away after 16 days is lingering in large part because the Patriots and coach Mike Vrabel keep giving it oxygen.

Barely a day after Vrabel made a surprise appearance in the press room to deliver a statement regarding photos he initially called "laughable," Vrabel announced early Thursday morning that he won’t be with the team on the third day of the draft, and that he'll instead be in "counseling."

With or without the input of a "crisis communications expert," the Patriots have made some interesting communications choices regarding the current P.R. crisis. If there was an effort to kill the photos of Vrabel with former Athletic reporter Dianna Russini, the Patriots had a good idea as to what the situation could become. And if the Patriots signed off on Vrabel's dismissive initial statement, they either were duped by his denial or they jointly developed an approach premised on trying to dupe everyone else.

At first, it appeared that the situation would be a bigger problem for Russini, whose former job relied on objectivity, the avoidance of even the appearance of a conflict of interest, and credibility with the audience. After she resigned and Vrabel remained unscathed, the vibe changed.

Tuesday's statement seemed to be an effort to short-circuit a potentially awkward situation on Thursday night, when Vrabel speaks to reporters after the Patriots make their first-round pick. Vrabel also wanted to address the matter publicly before his players were subjected to media questions regarding, for example, whether Vrabel has talked to them about the photos with Russini.

Then came the team's confusing decision to issue a statement to Front Office Sports that a crisis communications expert was not utilized in connection with the reported effort to kill the story, without a denial that an effort to kill the initial story was made.

Finally, Vrabel and the Patriots decided that he'll miss the third day of the draft (a Saturday) to attend counseling, and that the development would be revealed to ESPN for publication under the cover of darkness.

None of it makes sense on the surface. Counseling on a Saturday? The Saturday of the draft? There are other days of the week. And the dust will settle on the draft by early next week. It presumably could have waited.

The timing of the counseling, and the impact on Vrabel's availability for a fairly important day on the offseason calendar, invites speculation that it's potentially a low-key suspension imposed by the Patriots, possibly with a nudge from the league office. A way to punish Vrabel without punishing him — or even acknowledging that there would be any reason to do so.

The content and timing of the latest announcement also invites speculation that Vrabel and the Patriots fear something else may be coming. With Vrabel's Tuesday statement essentially obliterating Russini’s repeated denials, she could (in theory) decide to come clean about whatever it is that Vrabel was referring to on Tuesday. Which could, depending on what she says (if she chooses to say anything), create even more problems for Vrabel and the Patriots.

Whatever the reasons for the strategies that has been employed (and it would be foolish to think that these things are occurring without careful planning), the situation is very strange. And it keeps getting stranger.

Which makes it reasonable to brace for the possibility that the strangest stuff is still to come.