New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel refused to directly discuss Dianna Russini in his first public comments since the pair were photographed together at a hotel in Arizona.
During a press conference on Tuesday, April 21, Vrabel, 50, was asked to comment on Russini, 43, resigning from her job as an NFL reporter for The Athletic in the wake of the scandal.
“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,” Vrabel told reporters. “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.”
Vrabel was also asked about his initial statement after photos of him and Russini were published by Page Six earlier this month, in which the head coach called speculation about the nature of his relationship with Russini “laughable.”
“I appreciate the question. I’m going to focus on our football team,” he said. “I think I’ve addressed what I felt like was important, so focusing on our football team and the importance of teaching these guys, bringing a new team together [with] 13 new players.”
Vrabel said he spoke with the team before the press conference, which came two days before the start of the 2026 NFL Draft in Pittsburgh.
“I have to make sure that I address things, communicate and I do that with everything that we do,” he explained. “We’ve got a great group of guys. We’re excited to teach them. We’re excited to help them. Preparing for a journey is what we talked about, and that journey takes a lot of different twists and turns. Positively, as we saw last year, also times negatively. You know, there’s going to be a lot along the way. So we talked to them about preparing for the journey.”
When asked about the conversations he had with Patriots ownership, Vrabel said, “We’ll keep those between us. Again, I understand and thank you, guys, for your patience. Just want to focus on the football team and getting off to a good start.”
In his opening statement on Tuesday, Vrabel acknowledged that things haven’t been easy since the photos of him and Russini went viral.
“I’ve had some difficult conversations with people that I care about: my family, the organization, the coaches, the players,” Vrabel said. “Those have been positive and productive. We believe in order to be successful on and off the field you have to make good decisions. That includes me. That starts with me. We never want our actions to negatively affect the team. We never want to be the cause of distraction.”
He continued, “The comments and questions that I’ve answered for the team and with the team, I’m going to keep those private to ourselves. I care deeply about this football team and I’m excited to coach them. I also know that I’m going to attack each day with humility and focus. What I can promise you is that my family, this organization, the team, the staff, the coaches, our fans, most importantly, will get the best version of me going forward.”
Vrabel has been married to his wife, Jen, since 1999, though he did not mention her by name during Tuesday’s press conference.
Russini has been married to her husband, Kevin Goldschmidt, since 2020. She submitted her resignation from The Athletic on April 14, citing the “self-feeding speculation” in the wake of the scandal.
In statements shortly after the pictures were published, both Vrabel and Russini insisted their relationship was strictly professional.
