Vrabel to Stay Silent Before Draft, but Not Because of the Russini Photos

Mike Vrabel isn't talking to reporters before the NFL Draft - but his silence predates the controversy that has kept him in the headlines.

The New England Patriots head coach will not conduct the team's pre-draft press conference scheduled for April 13. That duty falls instead to Eliot Wolf, the team's executive vice president of player personnel. An offseason schedule obtained by USA TODAY Sports and dated March 11 confirms this was always the arrangement - a change from 2025, when Vrabel himself addressed the media the week before the draft.

The scheduling note is important because it pushes back against any suggestion that the organisation altered its plans in response to photos published last week showing Vrabel at an Arizona resort with Dianna Russini, The Athletic's NFL insider. The images, taken at the Ambiente hotel in Sedona, showed the two in swimming attire on a rooftop, days before the NFL's annual league meeting in Phoenix.

Both Vrabel, 50, and Russini, 43, are married to other people with whom they have children. Vrabel issued a statement through the New York Post calling the photos "a completely innocent interaction" and said the matter "doesn't deserve any further response."

Russini covered Vrabel during his time as head coach of the Tennessee Titans from 2018 to 2023. She joined The Athletic in 2023 after leaving ESPN, and her conduct is now under investigation by The New York Times. She has been sidelined from reporting on the NFL pending that review.

The Patriots hold the 31st overall pick in the draft, having reached Super Bowl 60. Whether Vrabel speaks once the draft begins on April 23 remains an open question - he addressed reporters after the first round of last year's draft and could do so again, unless the team trades out of the first round entirely.

Wolf and Vrabel both spoke to the national media at February's scouting combine. VP of player personnel Ryan Cowden also addressed reporters at last year's draft. The full media schedule for this year's event has not yet been announced.