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FOXBORO — Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel made a statement Tuesday afternoon after being in headlines this month for being photographed with former The Athletic NFL reporter Dianna Russini at a resort in Arizona.
Vrabel had not addressed the matter since releasing a statement to Page 6 when the story broke. The pictures showed Vrabel and Russini embracing and holding hands at the resort. Russini has since resigned from The Athletic after the company began investigating the matter.
“Let me first begin by saying thank you. Thank you for your patience that you’ve shown in a personal and private matter for me and obviously everybody involved,” Vrabel said Tuesday. “I know that that’s not easy for you, and I respect that, and I appreciate your efforts in doing so.
“I understand I could have addressed you guys sooner, but it was important to me to have a conversation with the players, which I did yesterday, very candidly as we began our off season program, which everyone is excited to be a part of. Stacey had mentioned the players’ availability, and it was never my intention to have them speak to you or address you before I did. And so I asked him to come today and talk with you. I also don’t want to take away from our, you know, the draft, the weekend of the draft. This is an important time for us, our organization, and the excitement and the joy that those players are going to have that we bring onto our football team. They’re starting an amazing journey, one that should be celebrated as we welcome them onto our team.
“With that being said, I’ve had some difficult conversations with people that I care about, with my family, the organization, the coaches, the players. Those have been positive and productive. I 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. These are comments and questions that I’ve answered for the team and with the team, we’ll keep those private and to ourselves. I care deeply about this football team and excited to coach them. I also know that I’m going to attack each day with humility and focus. And what I can promise you is that my family, this organization, the team, the staff, the coaches, everybody, our fans, most importantly, will get the best version of me going forward. And that’s what I know. And I’m excited to do that, but I wanted to, one, just address this, and thank you for your patience in dealing with the private and personal matter.”
When the story broke, Vrabel called the pictures “laughable.”
“These photos show a completely innocent interaction and any suggestion otherwise is laughable,” Vrabel told the New York Post in the statement. “This doesn’t deserve any further response.”
ESPN has since reported that Russini couldn’t provide evidence that she and Vrabel were at the Arizona resort with friends, as she had initially claimed. ESPN also reported that the NFL “is not reviewing Vrabel’s behavior as part of the league’s personal conduct policy.”
Vrabel made his statement from a podium in front of reporters and videocameras then took a seat to address additional questions with cameras turned off.
He politely declined to answer a question about Russini resigning from The Athletic.
“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 said. “I want this — again, I appreciate your job and what you guys have to do, but I have to make my comments and what I answer about our football team.”
Vrabel went on to say that players did have questions for him after he addressed the team on Monday, when players arrived for the start of the Patriots’ offseason workout program.
“I’ve addressed that and talked to them. Again, I tell them all the time, we have to speak for ourselves. And what they have to say on it is what they have to say.”
Vrabel went on to say that those conversations were not difficult.
“I have to lead.”
Before questions were turned to football, Vrabel was asked about the conversations he had with Patriots ownership.
“Those will be confident. We’ll keep those between us.”
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