It's becoming more clear why Patriots coach Mike Vrabel announced early Thursday morning that he'll be stepping away from the team for the third day of the draft.

The development came only hours after the New York Post contacted Vrabel regarding an extensive new set of photos of Vrabel and former Athletic reporter Dianna Russini.

The photos, taken on March 11, 2020 (we'll circle back to that date), show Vrabel and Russini sitting closely together in a New York City bar.

Along with the photos, the Post reports (citing an unnamed eyewitness) that Vrabel and Russini "were kissing and they were all over each other," and that they were "very close to each other" throughout the evening.

"They were [giving each other] pecks, a bunch of pecks constantly,” the source told the Post. "There was nobody in there. Nobody knew who they were. I don’t even think the bartenders did."

At the time, Vrabel was married. Russini was not. She was employed when the newly-released photos were taken by ESPN.

Back to the reported date of the photos. March 11, 2020. That was the same day all hell broke loose in the COVID pandemic. Which has no direct relevance to this specific situation. It's just a very strange coincidence.

And a very strange situation keeps getting stranger. With the Patriots announcing on Wednesday that Vrabel "or" V.P. of player personnel Eliot Wolf will be available to reporters on Thursday and Friday, it's a safe bet that Wolf will be getting the assignment for each of the next two days.