It took weeks since the New England Patriots opened their 2026 training camp and NFL rules put coach Mike Vrabel in front of reporters on a regular basis, but the question finally came on Tuesday.
Someone asked Vrabel what he learned from his counseling sessions that he previously said he was seeking after the scandal involving him and NFL reporter Dianna Russini became public.
Vrabel had announced in April he was following up difficult conversations with his family with that counseling because the photos of him and Russini hugging and holding hands and enjoying time together at a pool and spa doubtless caused friction at home.
PATRIOTS COACH MIKE VRABEL BREAKS SILENCE ON DIANNA RUSSINI PHOTOS THAT LED TO ‘DIFFICULT CONVERSATIONS’
Vrabel even missed one day of the NFL Draft as part of that counseling regimen.
But then, well, radio silence.
Vrabel didn’t discuss it. And he was not asked about it by the New England media. Even on the first day of camp when Vrabel faced reporters for the first time in 2026, the subject never came up.
But it did on Tuesday.
MIKE VRABEL UNTOUCHED BY DIANNA RUSSINI SCANDAL AT FIRST PRESS CONFERENCE OF PATRIOTS TRAINING CAMP
Finally.
QUESTION: “You said this offseason that you were seeking counseling. I wanted to follow up on that and see what you learned from that counseling, and how did you balance that personal commitment with getting ready for this season?”
Good work here. Journalism!
Vrabel then opened up and explained how the sessions affected his family relationships.
No he didn’t.
VRABEL: “I think we always look at improvement. As we talk about getting ready for the next season, we always look at improvement and ways that we can improve individually and how we can improve as a team. It’s really critical that we continue to do that on and off the field.
“I believe in that. I believe in everything that we can do to help this football team, to help our coaches, to help myself and everybody else included.
“This journey that we are going to go on is going to be completely different than the one we went on last year. That’s all of our jobs, is to prepare for it now. So, really focused on our improvement individually and as a team, and that’s something that we can do today.
“You look at the O-line, and we talk about them and their ability to play together as a unit. There are so many combination blocks that they are involved in, and we have to be better. Again, five O-linemen have to be able to sustain a line of scrimmage, and I just walked into that meeting room and said, “How do we improve? How do we improve our combination blocks?
“We are not asking you to block everybody 1-on-1. So, I think we all have areas that we can improve on, and that includes the coaches.”
That’s a lot of words. But it’s not anything close to insightful. Or personal.
The question about Vrabel’s family counseling sessions that followed an embarrassing unfurling of a years-long relationship between him and a reporter was met with an answer that ultimately discussed offensive line combination blocks.
This doesn’t make Vrabel a bad guy.
Or a bad coach.
That time he spent with the woman not his wife might, but not this. This makes him excellent at coachspeak. And expert in the art of deflection.
It’s understandable because Vrabel is wise to give an answer that does not lead to a follow-up question on an uncomfortable subject. He doesn’t want to dredge up any new stories that might cause his team even the slightest distraction.
He wants a story that went viral in the spring to die this summer.
One more thing: He probably doesn’t feel like he owes anyone an actual answer.
And he’s correct. It’s a personal matter for him and he has a right to keep it locked up.
But the question needed to be asked.
Finally, score one for journalism.
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