New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel was the source of offseason controversy after photos were published of him and NFL reporter Dianna Russini, but his players are still supporting him.
ESPN’s Ben Strauss and Kalyn Kahler spoke to “league insiders, reporters, players and coaches, most of whom spoke only on the condition of anonymity, about the Patriots’ offseason and how the Vrabel-Russini situation impacted the league.” Veteran running back Rhamondre Stevenson was one of two players whom the Patriots made available for the story, and he indicated that Vrabel hasn’t lost the locker room.
“We just tried to move on as fast as we can from that,” Stevenson said.
Strauss and Kahler explained that Vrabel addressed the Patriots for the first time in a team meeting about two weeks after the photos surfaced of him and Russini at an adults-only hotel in Arizona.
Strauss and Kahler reported a source said that the 51-year-old “spoke in the same serious tone that he used when addressing the team after a loss.” Players said their head coach “told them he was responsible for creating a distraction and bringing negative attention to the team,” and added that “challenges always come, but what matters is how people handle adversity when it hits,” according to Strauss and Kahler.
“He feels like he did wrong by us,” Stevenson said.
Multiple people who attended the meeting told Strauss and Kahler that Vrabel “shared no details about his relationship with Russini, nor did he explain what he’d done to cause the distraction he acknowledged.” He reportedly didn’t receive any questions from the players, and they quickly moved on to discussing the team’s schedule for the day.
“None of the team was really even worried about specifics,” Stevenson said.
The Patriots will open the 2026 season on Wednesday night in a Super Bowl rematch against the reigning champion Seattle Seahawks.
