head coach Mike Vrabel has been raked over the coals due to the most recent photos that were released of him and NFL reporter Dianna Russini.
Vrabel said he will be to seek counseling. However, hes put the Patriots into a PR disaster that began when he fervently denied that the first photo dump of him and Russini at an Arizona resort showed anything nefarious. He brushed it off as “a completely innocent interaction.”
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Former San Diego Chargers linebacker Shawne Merriman weighed in with his reaction in an interview with Fox News Digital on Thursday. He said that he didnt think the dark cloud around Vrabel would affect the team football-wise, but his job depended on what message the organization wants to send.
“This is my thing when it comes to that,” Merriman said. “He didnt break any laws first and foremost, right? This is something morally maybe wrong. Something hell have to deal with when it comes to that. I do not believe, in my opinion, I do not believe this will be . This will have to be, internally, that, we dont want to deal with it because what it sends a message for, but its not going to affect the players in the locker room and how hes coaching, how theyre coached, how they listen to and follow him, and how Vrabel leads.
“Football wise, I dont think it does anything at all. It just really depends on what message do you want to send by keep going forward with him. Thats what I would say.”
Page Six and TMZ published new rounds of Vrabel-Russini photos earlier Thursday. It sparked a pre-draft news conference from Vrabel.
“My previous actions don’t meet the standard that I hold myself to,” Vrabel said. “My priorities are my family and this football team, in that order. And there is a balance there that I am going to create.”
At the end of the news conference, Vrabel was asked to explain why he initially made a statement calling photos of him and Russini at an Arizona resort “laughable” after they were published by the New York Post earlier in April.
“That’s a private and personal matter. I don’t think that those comments … it was family,” Vrabel said.
It was the last question Vrabel answered before storming off the podium and out of the room.
Fox News Jackson Thompson contributed to this report.
