Mike

Vrabel

Vrabel missed the third day of the 2026 NFL Draft to spend time with his family and is seeking counseling after reports emerged alleging a relationship with former NFL reporter Dianna Russini. The veteran head coach is not expected to face any disciplinary actions from the league and is presumably back operating in his normal role.

Vrabel said he will be with family this weekend, though he is still expected to be with the team for the first three rounds on Thursday and Friday. He also told reporters he plans to seek counseling. This is all in relation to his alleged relationship with NFL reporter Dianna Russini, though Vrabel didn’t get into that level of detail. It’s already been reported that Vrabel won’t face any punishment under the league’s personal conduct policy, so missing the third day of the draft will be the only repercussion from him as far as his NFL duties are concerned.

McCarthy said that the NFL would not be reviewing whether Vrabel violated its personal conduct policy, which states that players, coaches and executives must not engage in “conduct detrimental to the integrity of and public confidence in” the NFL. Photos of Vrabel and Russini at a luxury hotel in Arizona led to an internal investigation from the Athletic and Russini’s eventual resignation earlier this week. Vrabel told the New York Post the photos show a completely innocent interaction, but otherwise he and the Patriots have declined to comment on the matter. The 50-year-old head coach skipped a pre-draft press conference earlier this week, but will be in attendance for next week’s NFL Draft.

The Patriots finished with a 4-13 record one year ago. Now, in Vrabel’s first season as head coach, they are preparing to play in Super Bowl LX against the Seahawks following a 14-3 season. Patriots OC Josh McDaniels was named Assistant Coach of the Year earlier this evening.

Defensive coordinator Terrell Williams is currently away from the team for medical reasons. Kuhr took over his duties earlier this week and will continue in that role on Sunday. While it’s not ideal to switch play-callers this early in the year for continuity purposes, Kuhr gets a potentially great matchup versus a Miami offense that looked dead on arrival last week.

Vrabel told reporters that inside linebackers coach Zak Kuhr will handle Williams’ duties while the latter is away from the team, though he didn’t name Kuhr the defensive play-caller. With cornerback Christian Gonzalez also missing Wednesday’s practice, New England’s defense looks likely to be understaffed both on the field and in the coaching ranks. Week 2 should give Tua Tagovailoa a chance to bounce back after a horrific opener versus the Colts.

With Tee Higgins likely to be franchise-tagged by the Bengals and the Buccaneers reportedly hoping to re-sign Chris Godwin before he hits free agency, a once-promising wide receiver market suddenly looks a tad underwhelming for the receiver-needy Patriots. D.K. Metcalf, Chris Olave, and Cooper Kupp were names Graff threw around in a recent article on The Athletic, and given the nine draft picks they’re currently sitting on, it’s fair to say the Patriots have the draft capital to get a deal done. Who they trade for likely depends on the asking price, but the Patriots can’t go into a third-straight season with Demario Douglas as their top receiving target.

NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero was first to report the hiring, although it’s worth noting FOX Sports’ Jordan Schultz reported on Saturday night that “barring something unforeseen,” the Patriots were expected to hire Vrabel. It’s now nearly official, as the former Titans head coach will soon put pen to paper to become the second head coach of the Patriots in the post Bill Belichick era. The Patriots blew through their interview process, and wasted little time to reach the decision to hire the coach who spent eight years as a player with the team from 2001-2008. Vrabel boasts a 54-45 record as a head coach during his six years with the Titans, and is now set to takeover for a team that appears to already have its franchise quarterback intact with Drake Maye. Couple this with nearly $130 million in cap space to play with, and there’s a suddenly a strong case to be made for the Patriots as a bounce back team next season.

“Barring something unforeseen,” Vrabel, who played for the Patriots from 2001 to 2008, will be New England’s next head coach after the team parted ways with Jerod Mayo after the 2024 regular season. Vrabel’s Titans teams went 54-45 over six seasons, with three playoff berths. Among the most hard nosed, conservative coaches in football, Vrabel appears locked in for the job a year after losing out to Mayo, who took over for legendary head coach Bill Belichick. Vrabel’s first priority will be finding an offensive coordinator who can get the most out of Drake Maye and a receivers room bereft of talent.

Vrabel interviewed with New England on Thursday. Schefter echoed an earlier report from the Athletic’s Dianna Russini by stating that the Patriots will be charting their next steps in their coaching search this weekend. With Vrabel not currently tied to another team, he’s the obvious candidate for a team that appears to be moving quickly towards finding its next coach.