New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel has said he has had “difficult” conversations after photographs of him and NFL reporter Dianna Russini were made public earlier this month.
Russini resigned from her post at the Athletic after the New York Post published photos of her and Vrabel embracing and holding hands at an Arizona resort. The pair are married to different people and have said their relationship is platonic.
Vrabel addressed the subject for the first time publicly on Tuesday. “I’ve had some difficult conversations with people that I care about, with my family, the organization, the coaches, the players,” Vrabel told reporters. “Those have been positive and productive. We 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.”
The NFL has said it will not investigate Vrabel over the Russini photos. Its personal conduct policy states that “everyone who is part of the league must refrain from ‘conduct detrimental to the integrity of and public confidence in’ the NFL”.
Russini announced her resignation on 14 April amid an internal investigation at the Athletic. In a letter, she said she stood behind every story she had published and refused to “submit to a public inquiry that has already caused far more damage than I am willing to accept”.
