New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel was seen browsing an airport gift shop while away from the team to seek counseling amid a scandal involving NFL insider Dianna Russini.
Vrabel, 50, picked out a baby blue sweatsuit at the Salt Lake City International Airport on Saturday, April 25, as evidenced by photos published by Page Six on Monday, April 27.
Notably, the head coach was still wearing his wedding ring, though his wife, Jen, did not appear to be with him. The Vrabel family owns a home in Park City, Utah, according to a January 2025 profile in The Athletic.
Vrabel was spotted “speed-walking to the register” after picking out the sweatsuit, according to an eyewitness. The trip to Utah coincided with Day 3 of the 2026 NFL Draft.
The head coach returned to the Patriots’ facilities on Monday, according to multiple reports.
Last week, Vrabel announced plans to attend counseling amid the ongoing controversy surrounding the nature of his relationship with Russini, 43.
“I promised my family, this organization and this team that I was going to give them the best version of me that I can possibly give them,” Vrabel said in a statement to ESPN on Wednesday, April 22. “In order to do so, I have committed to seeking counseling, starting this weekend. This is something that I have given a lot of thought to and is something I would advise a player to do if I was counseling them.”
He continued, “I have always wanted to lead by example, and I believe this is what I have to do to be the best husband, father and coach that I possibly can be. This is not an easy thing for me to admit, but it is one that I know will make me a better person. I appreciate the support that everyone has given me and promise a stronger resolve as a result.”
ESPN’s Mike Reiss noted that Vrabel planned to be “with his family this weekend outside of Massachusetts.” Mike and Jen, who got married in 1999, share sons Tyler, 25, and Carter, 24.
While ESPN’s Peter Schrager reported during Day 3 of the Draft that the Patriots were in “constant contact” with Vrabel on Saturday, he later backtracked on social media.
“Following up on the Vrabel report, it was my understanding that Coach Vrabel was going to be in contact with the staff via phone/text, but I’ve learned that in the end, both Vrabel and the team ultimately chose not to interrupt him and his family during Day 3 of the Draft,” Schrager, 44, posted via X.
Patriots vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf seemed to confirm Schrager’s correction in a post-Draft press conference on Saturday night.
“So, last night we kind of talked through things and made the decision that 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 OK’ kind of texts early this morning,” Wolf, 44, told reporters.
Vrabel has been a hot topic since Page Six published photos on April 7 of him and Russini together at a luxury resort in Arizona last month.
Russini has been married to her husband, Kevin Goldschmidt, since September 2020 and the couple share two young sons.
Both Vrabel and Russini initially released statements insisting that their relationship was strictly professional, with Vrabel calling any other assertion “laughable.”
Since then, multiple outlets have released additional photos of the pair, including Page Six publishing pictures of Vrabel and Russini appearing to kiss in a New York City bar in March 2020.
