Mike Vrabel has returned to the New England Patriots after a brief leave for counseling related to a photo scandal with Dianna Russini. He acknowledged his accountability for the situation involving cozy photos taken in 2020.
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Mike Vrabel
Credit: John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe via Getty
Mike Vrabel is back with the Patriots 48 hours after going to âcounselingâ amid his photo scandal with Dianna Russini.
The New England Patriots head coach, 50, was seen walking into the teamâs facility in Foxborough on Monday, April 27, according to ESPN.
It was Vrabel's first time back with the team after he missed the third day of the NFL Draft to attend counseling and focus on his "family," he said, after photos surfaced of him looking cozy with the 43-year-old Russini, a former senior NFL insider for The Athletic.
After a back-and-forth among reporters about Vrabel's focus that day, the Patriots' front office disputed a report that the coach was in âconstant contactâ with the team on Saturday during rounds 4-7 of the draft.
Eliot Wolf, executive vice president of player personnel for the Patriots, said Vrabel was not communicating with the team over the weekend, and that Vrabel spoke to executives and "talked through things" before coming to the "decision that, you know, the time away really needs to be time away."
Mike Vrabel sought counseling due to his involvement in a photo scandal with former NFL reporter Dianna Russini.
The photos showed Mike Vrabel and Dianna Russini looking cozy together, which were taken in 2020 and published recently.
Mike Vrabel was away from the Patriots for 48 hours before returning after addressing the photo scandal.
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"So, we were not in contact with Mike today other than some just, 'Hope everything's going okay,' kind of text early this morning," Wolf said, according to MassLive.
Dianna Russini, Mike Vrabel
Credit: Jeff Schear/Getty; Thearon W. Henderson/Getty
The coachâs return to the team comes less than a week after new photos were published that showed him and Russini at a bar more than six years ago, well before they were photographed at an upscale Arizona resort at the end of March.
The photos, published by Page Six on Thursday, April 23, showed the coach and the journalist looking cozy while at the Tribeca Tavern in New York City on March 10, 2020.
In one photo, the two appeared to share a kiss, and another showed Vrabel wearing his wedding ring while placing his hand on Russini's thigh.
âThey were kissing and they were all over each other,â a source who was at the bar told Page Six, adding, âHe had a ring on.â
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Hours after the photos were published and before the first round of the draft, Vrabel addressed the matter.
"I take accountability for my actions and the actions that caused a distraction to the people that I care most about,â Vrabel told reporters. "My family, this football team, the organization and the fans."
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