Vrabel dismisses pool photos with reporter as innocent
New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel described leaked photographs of himself with New York Times and The Athletic NFL reporter Dianna Russini as showing an innocent interaction. The images, published by the New York Post's Page Six, depict the pair in bathing suits by a pool and holding hands while hugging on the roof of a resort bungalow in Sedona, Arizona. Vrabel told the Post the suggestion of anything improper was laughable and deserved no further response.
Russini stated the photos fail to capture a group of six people spending time together during the day, adding that NFL reporters commonly interact with sources outside stadiums. Steven Ginsberg, executive editor of The Athletic, called the images misleading and lacking context, noting they depicted public interactions witnessed by others and expressing pride in Russini's work.
Vrabel recently guided the Patriots to Super Bowl LX against the Seattle Seahawks on Feb. 8, 2026, in Santa Clara, California. He captured NFL Coach of the Year honors for the second time in his career, his first coming in 2021 with the Tennessee Titans, receiving 19 of 50 first-place votes and 302 total points ahead of Seattle's Mike Macdonald, San Francisco's Kyle Shanahan, Jacksonville's Liam Coen and Chicago's Ben Johnson. Vrabel became the seventh coach to win the award with multiple franchises, joining Chuck Knox, Bill Parcells, Bruce Arians, Dan Reeves, Don Shula and George Allen.
