The Patriots head coach addressed the photo scandal with Russini in April, emphasizing his commitment to the Patriots and the upcoming season
Russini resigned from The Athletic amid scrutiny while Vrabel faced no disciplinary action from the NFL
NFL broadcasters aren’t forgetting about the Mike Vrabel and Dianna Russini photo scandal as the NFL season nears.
During the first Football Night in America of the season on Thursday, Aug. 6, the show’s hosts — Maria Taylor, Jason Garrett, Mike Tomlin and Devin McCourty — revisited the controversy surrounding the New England Patriots head coach, 50, and the former Athletic reporter, 43, after photos of them cozied up together surfaced online in April.
While speaking at halftime of the annual NFL Hall of Fame Game, where the Carolina Panthers defeated the Arizona Cardinals 33-30 in Canton, Ohio, NBC’s Football Night in America crew addressed the photo scandal and its potential impact on the Patriots this season now that training camp is underway.
NBC’s “Football Night in America” during their first broadcast of the 2026-27 NFL season. Credit: NBC
Taylor rehashed the situation, noting that Vrabel left the Patriots on the final day of the 2026 NFL Draft to be with his family and begin counseling before returning to the team a couple of days later.
“But now that [training] camp is open... what’s the impact on this team?” she asked her co-host, McCourty, seen in a clip of the broadcast shared on X .
“It’s gonna start Week 1 in Seattle,” he pointed out, referencing the Patriots’ first game of the season against the Seattle Seahawks, a rematch of Seattle’s win over New England in the 2026 Super Bowl.
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Mike Vrabel and Dianna Russini. Credit: Dylan Buell/Getty; Cindy Ord/Getty
“That atmosphere, we were up there, Jason, last year,” he said, referring to his co-host Garrett. “They look for Mike Vrabel, they look to him when things get tough, do they still feel the same way? His character’s been tested. Will this team follow him wherever he goes? That’s going to be tested right away Week 1.”
“When games start, winning matters,” added Tomlin, who spent 19 seasons as the Pittsburgh Steelers head coach before retiring in January 2026. “And so if they get off to a fast start, they gotta chance to quiet some of that noise. If they don’t, that noise can get extremely loud.”
At a press conference on April 21, Vrabel addressed the photos of him and Russini — who are both married to other people — hugging and holding hands at a luxury hotel in Arizona for the first time since they were published in the New York Post two weeks earlier.
Dianna Russini. Credit: Jeff Schear/Getty
Vrabel began by thanking the media members for their “patience” as he stayed silent on the situation, adding in part that he cares “deeply about this football team” and he’s “excited” to begin the new season.
Russini, who resigned from The Athletic on April 14, initially said, “The photos don’t represent the group of six people who were hanging out during the day. Like most journalists in the NFL, reporters interact with sources away from stadiums and other venues,” Russini told the outlet.
While Russini resigned from The Athletic as they investigate her involvement with Vrabel, the Patriots coach is not facing any disciplinary action from the NFL, a league official confirmed to PEOPLE on April 20.
Since the photos in April, additional photos have surfaced from multiple meetups between Vrabel and Russini through the years, including shots of the pair renting a boat together while she was seven months pregnant with her first son.
The PatriotsThe AthleticApril Dianna RussiniMike VrabelNBCDianna RussiniPatriotsRussiniVrabelNFLDuringFootball Night
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