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New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel has been raked over the coals due to the most recent photos that were released of him and NFL reporter Dianna Russini.
Vrabel said he will be stepping away from the team to seek counseling. However, he’s put the Patriots into a PR disaster that began when he fervently denied that the first photo dump of him and Russini at an Arizona resort showed anything nefarious. He brushed it off as “a completely innocent interaction.”
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New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel stands on the field before the 2026 AFC Championship Game at Empower Field at Mile High in Denver, Colo., on Jan. 25, 2026. (Ron Chenoy/Imagn Images)
Former San Diego Chargers linebacker Shawne Merriman weighed in with his reaction in an interview with Fox News Digital on Thursday. He said that he didn’t think the dark cloud around Vrabel would affect the team football-wise, but his job depended on what message the organization wants to send.
“This is my thing when it comes to that,” Merriman said. “He didn’t break any laws first and foremost, right? This is something morally maybe wrong. Something he’ll have to deal with when it comes to that. I do not believe, in my opinion, I do not believe this will be a football distraction. This will have to be, internally, that, we don’t want to deal with it because what it sends a message for, but it’s not going to affect the players in the locker room and how he’s coaching, how they’re coached, how they listen to and follow him, and how Vrabel leads.
“Football wise, I don’t think it does anything at all. It just really depends on what message do you want to send by keep going forward with him. That’s what I would say.”
Dianna Russini, left, and Mike Vrabel, right, are shown in a split composite image featuring Russini with an ESPN microphone and Vrabel on the Titans sideline wearing a headset. (Imagn Images)
Page Six and TMZ published new rounds of Vrabel-Russini photos earlier Thursday. It sparked a pre-draft news conference from Vrabel.
“My previous actions don’t meet the standard that I hold myself to,” Vrabel said. “My priorities are my family and this football team, in that order. And there is a balance there that I am going to create.”
At the end of the news conference, Vrabel was asked to explain why he initially made a statement calling photos of him and Russini at an Arizona resort “laughable” after they were published by the New York Post earlier in April.
“That’s a private and personal matter. I don’t think that those comments … it was an attempt to protect your family,” Vrabel said.
New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel celebrates after the AFC championship game against the Denver Broncos at Empower Field At Mile High in Denver, Colo., on Jan. 25, 2026. (Cooper Neill/Getty Images)
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It was the last question Vrabel answered before storming off the podium and out of the room.
Fox News’ Jackson Thompson contributed to this report.
