Mike Vrabel addressed Dianna Russini saga with Patriots players differently than he did with reporters
Before Mike Vrabel made his first public statement about the Dianna Russini saga in front of some reporters on Tuesday, he addressed it privately with club ownership earlier and with his players on Monday.
And the message was predictably different.
His discussion with reporters – both at a podium and later as they huddled around when he sat in a chair – did not include any explanation of what actually happened or didn't between him and the NFL reporter for The Athletic. It also didn't include any apology to, well, anyone.
Vrabel’s talk with players was more candid.
He addressed the issue in the first team meeting of the offseason conditioning program "from the jump," one player who was present texted OutKick.
And Vrabel indeed did apologize to them – or at least it felt that way to this player – for the unwanted attention the issue has brought on the team at a time he wants all the attention on the players working to get better and the ones about to be selected in the NFL Draft this week.
"He mentioned how we all on a journey together," the player said, "and sometimes we fail but we got to be prepared to keep going together no matter what. We knew what he was talking about."
A former Patriots player who said he heard from people in the meeting said his understanding is that Vrabel "showed accountability."
But how exactly that was articulated remains vague.
No, Vrabel apparently did not share any salacious details or deny worst thoughts about the Page Six article that became a national story two weeks ago. That story included the married coach sunbathing with the married Russini at a pool, spending time together in a hot tub, then holding hands and embracing on the roof of a private bungalow days before the NFL annual meeting in Arizona.
It might be argued that Vrabel doesn’t owe anyone outside his family any details. Not even his locker room of players. What they have to know is he feels he let them down by possibly making their jobs harder and he’s sorry for that.
Vrabel admitted to reporters he met with Patriots principal owner, chairman and CEO Robert Kraft and his son and team president Jonathan Kraft about the Russini story.
While he had previously said he’d had "difficult conversations with people I care about," and included "the organization" as part of that, he said his talk with the Krafts was not necessarily difficult.
Vrabel, by the way, declined to address Russini losing her job when she resigned from The Athletic.
The hope for the Patriots is that this subject will fade into memory sooner than later. That may happen unless players start to add more details about the meeting or give opinions about the story.
There’s also the possibility Russini re-emerges and discusses the matter, or The Athletic unveils the findings of an investigation it publicly announced as underway.
Even if that happens, it is at this point unlikely Vrabel will address the matter any further.