FOXBOROUGH - Mike Vrabel showed up to work on Monday morning. As an employee, that's what you're supposed to do. But in light of recent developments, his presence wasn’t expected.
“I was surprised,” someone in the building told me via text. “Happy to see him, for sure, but this hasn’t and probably won’t be easy for a while.”
Vrabel was not with the team on day three of the NFL draft, which is unheard of. After repeatedly telling us that the two sides would be in contact, Eliot Wolf revealed post-draft that there was no contact beyond a ‘hope all is well’ text.
As reported by the New York Post, Vrabel was in Park City, Utah, where he has a home, and was photographed at the Salt Lake City airport. This is indicative of the new reality he faces in our culture. Rightly or wrongly, Vrabel is now fair game to the paparazzi or every soul with a cellphone camera. His life, as of right now, is no longer his own.
In the meantime, his football team - as he told us, one of the two most important things in his life - is in week two of voluntary offseason workouts. Vrabel waited to address the media/public about the photos of him and Dianna Russini, formerly of The Athletic, until he spoke to his team. I’m told the initial conversation went about as well as could be expected. But when more information came to light, Vrabel felt the need to speak to them - and us - again. The internal response to that wasn’t as forgiving.
Tuesday afternoon, the Patriots made two of their most dependable players, Hunter Henry and Robert Spillane, available to the media. I applaud them for doing so; however, since this was the first time we’ve had access to the players in this setting, there were questions about how the two feel about what’s transpired.
“I know you guys want to hear about everything that’s going on (with Vrabel), but to be honest with you, we’re just focused,” Henry said. “I’m focused on what we got going on right now in this building, with this team. Obviously, had a long season last year, quick turnaround into the offseason. We’re in a new building, and every year is a new year. So, we’re trying to build this team. We’re trying to come together. I’m just focused on the guys in this locker room and trying to build it from the ground up again. We got a long journey ahead of us, and we got to start somewhere. So, starting right now.”
“Coach coaches football, and he keeps the main thing the main thing,” linebacker Spillane added. “I know he’s dealing with personal issues, but when we’re in the building, we speak football.”
As I reported at the beginning of last week, those who were around him felt Vrabel’s personality had been tamped down, no doubt because of what he had/has weighing on him. But as this team-building process continues, the Pats need him to bring the same bravado and energy he showed a season ago, and eventually, Vrabel needs to elicit the same response and buy-in as he got in 2025-26. This off-field issue will make that part of the job more challenging, especially for someone who has preached making the right decisions on and off the field. But Spillane, who Vrabel gave his first professional opportunity, has his coach’s back.
“I love Coach, and I’m going to be here to support him as he would be there to support me through anything,” he said.
From what I understand, ownership remains fully committed to Vrabel and is hoping this story blows over. In the meantime, they are no doubt wanting Spillane’s public words to filter through a locker room and influence those who may be less sold on their coach than before. That's not a sentence I thought I'd be typing three weeks ago, but this is where we are, and will continue to be for the foreseeable future.