PATRIOTS NEWS Vrabel to speak with media today (4/21)

[Joey007]

 

[Joey007]

 

[sb1]

Is this live anywhere?

 

[Joey007]

Is this live anywhere?

Not that I’m aware of. But here’s his full opening statement

 

[Bill Lee]

The closest he comes to anything like an admission is the "you have to make good decisions, that includes me" line.

Never admits he made a bad decision...

I suppose that this ticks the "I talked to the team and to the media" box, but really, nothing else.

I guess we'll find out if this is sufficient, or if more is required.

 

[Boomer B]

The problem with this press conference is that it doesn’t put the issue to bed. It just creates more questions.

If he had the affair and admitted to it he could have said this would be the only time it would be addressed. Moving forward it’s all football. This press conference didn’t do anything.

 

[Ross12]

Not that I’m aware of. But here’s his full opening statement

Vrabel says a lot of words here but doesn't actually say much.

He ultimately says that he wanted to talk to the players first before he talked to the media, and he did say yesterday during day 1 of OTAs, so now he's talking to the media. He addresses that the situation exists but doesn't admit any wrongdoing; he states that you "never want to be a distraction" but doesn't necessarily state that he actually DID anything that was a distraction, simply that a distraction was created via the circumstances.

All in all, it is definitely a very carefully worded statement that "checks some boxes" (as @Bill Lee says above) but doesn't give the media any new headlines to run with like "Vrabel admits to wrongdoing" etc. And further, any player asked about the situation can refer back to his comments here without needing to really address it themselves.

I am guessing that the story will fizzle out after a couple days of unsuccessful questioning and draft hype overwriting it.

 

[Ross12]

The problem with this press conference is that it doesn’t put the issue to bed. It just creates more questions.

If he had the affair and admitted to it he could have said this would be the only time it would be addressed. Moving forward it’s all football. This press conference didn’t do anything.

I think he is trying to avoid being a hardass about it to the local media covering the team when he is the one in hot water. He probably wants to maintain somewhat positive relationships.

I don't really think it creates any more questions than already existed. At least it doesn't look like he is avoiding it any more.

 

[Ross12]

 

[Patjew]

That speech was literally all foreplay. Never got down to business.

 

[Ross12]

https://www.masslive.com/patriots/2026/04/everything-patriots-coach-mike-vrabel-said-about-dianna-russini-situation.html

Some of the better questions from the article here - there are a few more. None of these really say much of anything though.

On Russini resigning from her position at 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. 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.”

Did Patriots players have questions about the situation?

“I’ve had conversations and questions. Yeah, I’ve addressed that and talked to them. Tell them all the time, we have to speak for ourselves, and what they have to say on it is what they’ll have to say. We’ve talked, and again, there’s a lot of excitement in this new building. These guys are off to a really good start. It’s been a really good two days, but that was how we started the offseason program – a conversation I had with them."

On calling the initial implications “laughable” in his statement to the New York Post, and if that’s still the way he feels:

“I appreciate the question. I’m going to focus on our football team. 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, 13 new players.”

How would you characterize your conversations with ownership over the situation?

“Those will be in (confidence). 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. Eliot (Wolf)’s staff with Ryan (Cowden) and Alonzo (Highsmith), we’ve all worked very hard, and we’re excited to bring these guys onto our team this week. However, we can add them through the draft, the post-draft, so it’s important that those players are celebrated. They’re gonna have a lot of excitement on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.”

 

[Zuma]

That was good enough for me

 

[Raccoonsuit]

The closest he comes to anything like an admission is the "you have to make good decisions, that includes me" line.

Never admits he made a bad decision...

I suppose that this ticks the "I talked to the team and to the media" box, but really, nothing else.

I guess we'll find out if this is sufficient, or if more is required.

Yeah, I just read his quote out loud to my wife and she said the same, albeit with swear words and more anger.

I don't understand how so many posters downplayed the impact this would have on the team. I don't want to walk around denver with my pats hat on cause this **** is shameful.

 

[Betterthanmost]

That speech was literally all foreplay. Never got down to business.

Yeah, not a fan of those.

 

[Ross12]

I don't want to walk around denver with my pats hat on cause this **** is shameful.

Huh...? Really? Most people I know don't even know this story exists. I wear my Pats stuff in enemy territory as normal, no one's said a word. I live in PA, trust me, Eagles fans would talk some **** if they wanted to. I think you are overthinking this.

 

[XLIX]

The problem with this press conference is that it doesn’t put the issue to bed. It just creates more questions.

If he had the affair and admitted to it he could have said this would be the only time it would be addressed. Moving forward it’s all football. This press conference didn’t do anything.

This is the closest we will get to an admission. The lack of any sort of denial speaks volumes.

 

[Brady85-23]

Each to their own on this one. I dont care at all. Were all human and I've never met a perfect human in my life. Its none of my business. I have one rule - dont hurt people
Ive met a lot of married couples that never cheat and theres far more hurt and damage there then ones that end up cheating. When people truly cross the line toward evil thats when ill care and be prepared to bust out the win Chung regiment

 

[Steve102]

I'm surprised by the comments looking for more clarity. What did we want to hear?

Yup. I smashed the snot out of her. Nothing like strange minge to get the blood flowing. Feel like 20 years younger. Sorry if y'all were distracted. A little hypocritical to be sure, but it's my business, not yours.

Coach speak and platitudes, that's all there will be.

 

[mike_usagisan]

He had to do it today so it didn't cast a cloud over the draft coverage starting on Thursday.

Not surprised he said something without saying anything.

God, I'm ready to get back to real football news.

 

[Patjew]

He really did study the BB handbook for this one. And I’m fine with it. I didn’t think he needed to even address it with the media.