Head coach Mike Vrabel of the New England Patriots
Getty
Head coach Mike Vrabel of the New England Patriots
Maybe it was just a chance meeting at a romantic luxury hotel in the Sedona mountains in central Arizona. According to Page Six, an arm of the New York Post, that was the explanation for why Patriots coach Mike Vrabel was seen in leaked photos from the Ambiente resort with prominent NFL writer Dianna Russini of The Athletic, the site’s top news-breaking reporter.
The photos do show Russini and Vrabel–both of whom are married to other people–hugging and holding hands in a way that would not comport with professional standards in for either an NFL head coach or a reporter. The identity of the individual who took the photos was not revealed, and while the pictures are certainly invasive, Vrabel and Russini were in a relatively public space when they were snapped.
The Athletic has defended Russini, who dismissed the photos and any gossip that might have sprung up connected to them.
Vrabel said in a statement to the New York Post, “These photos show a completely innocent interaction and any suggestion otherwise is laughable. This doesn’t deserve any further response.”
Mike Vrabel, Dianna Russini ‘There With Friends’
Page Six reported that both parties said the meeting was happenstance.
From the site: “Both Russini and Vrabel insist they were there with friends and say they simply weren’t visible in the pictures. A source close to Russini says she was staying at the hotel during a hiking trip with two female pals. One of Vrabel’s friends told Page Six that they and the coach drove up to Sedona for the day with another pal and that they all drove back to their own hotel, some two hours away, after hanging out with Russini and her gang.”
Last week was the NFL’s owners meetings in the Phoenix area, about two hours from Sedona.
It’s worth noting, too, that Page Six went on to report, “But three other eyewitnesses told us that they did not see anyone else with Vrabel, 50, and Russini, 43.”
Dianna Russini attends the 2026 Fanatics Super Bowl Party
GettyDianna Russini attends the 2026 Fanatics Super Bowl Party
Patriots Turned Around Under Mike Vrabel
Vrabel, of course, played eight seasons with the Patriots and took over from Jerod Mayo as the head coach a little more than a year ago, and in doing so, turned a 4-13 team into a 14-3 AFC juggernaut that wound up earning a spot in the Super Bowl. The Patriots lost to the Seahawks, 29-13.
Vrabel had previously coached the Tennessee Titans, the team Dianna Russini had been covering as a reporter for ESPN at the time, beginning in 2018.
Vrabel and his wife, Jennifer, have been married since 1999.
Patriots Trying to Trade for AJ Brown
The actions of Vrabel at a hotel in Arizona probably wouldn’t much affect the news of the offseason for the Patriots, except that in this case, things might be a bit different. Again, Russini is a prominent reporter, and there are professional ethical questions at stake here. Reporters often have friendships with sources, but don’t often go hot-tubbing with them.
There’s also the fact that the Patriots and Eagles are on the precipice of a potential trade for Philadelphia star receiver AJ Brown, and Eagles backers are sure to seize on the fact that Russini has pushed the possibility of a Brown-to-New England trade connection.
As the site The Liberty Line noted, Russini has been among, “the loudest national voices pumping out AJ Brown-to-New England smoke for what feels like forever, and now she is suddenly wrapped up in a story involving the literal head coach of the team she kept tying Brown to.
“That is not nothing. Even in the most generous interpretation, the optics are absolutely brutal.”