New England Patriots coach Mike Vrabel met with reporters April 21 for the first time since photos surfaced of him and Dianna Russini, The Athletic’s former NFL insider, and used a whole lot of words to say not much of anything. He acknowledged “difficult” conversations with his family and his players without saying why they were necessary.
Vrabel said everyone, including him, needs to make good decisions on and off the field to be successful, without conceding why the reminder was needed or what those photos of much-too-familiar interactions with Russini portended. He said you never want to cause a distraction but was a bit vague on whether he meant that personally or in the general sense.
He promised, going forward, that his family and the Patriots would get the best version of him. Again, without acknowledging the elephant in the room.
If someone had been living under a rock these last two weeks, they’d have come away from Vrabel’s statement having no idea what he was talking about or why. Which isn’t how this is supposed to go. Either take responsibility for your poor behavior or don’t, but don’t spout a bunch of PR speak that requires people to read between the lines and call it accountability.
When he was asked directly about Russini, Vrabel said he couldn’t answer.
“I respect and I appreciate every single question, but I’m not going to be able to comment on anything as it relates to that,” he said. “I appreciate your job and what you guys have got to do, but I have to make my comments and what I answer about our football team.”
Which is fine. We don’t need the details on what, if anything, happened between Russini and Vrabel at that resort in Arizona or what, exactly, he told his wife and family and his players.
Mike Vrabel’s career has taken him from standout player to head coach, with stops across multiple eras of the NFL.See the moments that chart Vrabel’s path through the years and onto the sidelines.Above, Mike Vrabel speaks as he is introduced as head coach of the New England Patriots during a press conference at Gillette Stadium on January 13, 2025, in Foxborough, Massachusetts.
1 / 18See Mike Vrabel’s journey from Patriots standout to NFL head coachMike Vrabel’s career has taken him from standout player to head coach, with stops across multiple eras of the NFL.See the moments that chart Vrabel’s path through the years and onto the sidelines.Above, Mike Vrabel speaks as he is introduced as head coach of the New England Patriots during a press conference at Gillette Stadium on January 13, 2025, in Foxborough, Massachusetts.
Mike Vrabel’s career has taken him from standout player to head coach, with stops across multiple eras of the NFL.See the moments that chart Vrabel’s path through the years and onto the sidelines.Above, Mike Vrabel speaks as he is introduced as head coach of the New England Patriots during a press conference at Gillette Stadium on January 13, 2025, in Foxborough, Massachusetts.
But Vrabel has long preached the importance of accountability, saying last year it’s beneficial for both the person and the team.
“I think that that's what we've always tried to build — the ability to have and hold people accountable, hold each other accountable," Vrabel said last November. "Not in a negative way, but in a positive way to help themselves and to help the team."
All Vrabel had to say was that he screwed up. That the furor about the photos caused pain for his wife and his family and embarrassment to the Patriots and their fans, and for that he was sorry. That out of respect for everyone involved he wasn’t going to say anything else but would continue to work to regain everyone’s trust.
The NFL is hardly a bastion of purity. Despite a conduct policy that states, “We must endeavor at all times to be people of high character … and we must conduct ourselves in ways that favorably reflect on ourselves, our teams, the communities we represent, and the NFL," Vrabel isn’t going to be disciplined for this. He isn’t facing criminal charges and he didn’t violate an ethical cornerstone of his profession.
Plus, there are plenty of people who’ve done far worse than Vrabel. Like Patriots owner Robert Kraft, who was arrested for solicitation in 2019 after video showed him twice receiving sexual services at a massage parlor. The charges were dropped after a judge ruled the video was inadmissible.
But when you present yourself as an adherent to a moral code and claim to be doing things the “right” way, it is not unreasonable to expect you to own your mistakes and do it in transparent fashion.
He made a statement because he had to, both so his players wouldn’t be besieged and because he didn’t want the photos with Russini to overshadow the NFL draft later this week.
If Vrabel is sorry, he should have said that. Instead, his statement was made in as muddled a manner as possible, using generic phrases and saying "we" when this was not a group project.
Vrabel preaches accountability but his words say something different. They don't say much of anything at all.
Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on social media @nrarmour.