NEED TO KNOWMike Vrabel was not in contact with the New England Patriots during the 2026 NFL Draft as he sought out counseling amid his involvement in a photo scandal with Dianna Russini
Patriots executive Eliot Wolf said he spoke to Vrabel and they determined "the time away really needs to be time away"
Wolf said he sent a text message to Vrabel checking in and that the head coach shared "words of encouragement" to the team over the weekend
Mike Vrabel was not in touch with the New England Patriots on Day 3 of the NFL Draft as he sought counseling, according to an executive for the team.
Vrabel said on April 23 in a statement to ESPN he would be stepping away from the Patriots on the third day of the 2026 draft for counseling after multiple photos of him looking cozy with fired NFL reporter Dianna Russini surfaced this month. During the draft broadcast, ESPN reporter Peter Schrager said Vrabel was in "constant contact" with the team regarding their selections.
But according to MassLive, Eliot Wolf, executive vice president of player personnel for the Patriots, said Vrabel was not in contact with the team during his counseling over the weekend. Wolf said Vrabel spoke to executives and "talked through things" before coming to the "decision that, you know, 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 okay,' kind of text early this morning," Wolf added, per the outlet.
Wolf also told MassLive that Vrabel shared "words of encouragement" with team officials after they drafted Gabe Jacas and Eli Raridon on Saturday, April 25. "He knows our process," Wolf said of Vrabel, adding, "We talked about what kind of players we needed to add, and we knew what kind of players that he liked, and obviously, we drafted some of the guys that he had an affinity for today.”
Despite Vrabel's absence, Wolf said he felt good about the draft, calling it "a really good process all weekend" and extending thanks to "everyone from top to bottom of our football organization," per MassLive.
On the first day of the draft, photos showing Russini and Vrabel at a bar on March 10, 2020 were published by Page Six, furthering romance rumors that stemmed from the initial images of Vrabel and Russini holding hands at an Arizona luxury resort that surfaced earlier this month.
Vrabel, who initially called the suggestion that he and Russini were romantically involved "laughable" in a statement to New York Post hours after the photos were released, held a press conference just before the draft began to address the scandal.
"I take accountability for my actions and the actions that caused a distraction to the people that I care most about. My family, this football team, the organization and the fans," Vrabel told reporters.
“My priorities are my family and this football and in that order," he said. "There's a balance there that I'm going to create. My family needs me this weekend and that's where I'll be."
Russini, meanwhile, resigned from her position as an NFL insider at The Athletic on April 14.