New England Patriots
“My focus and the excitement I have for coaching is what is most important right now. This is a great opportunity, the spring.”
Mike Vrabel spoke with the media on Wednesday. John Tlumacki/Boston Globe
May 27, 2026 | 2:16 PM
5 minutes to read
FOXBOROUGH — For the first time in over a month, Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel fielded questions from the media ahead of Wednesday’s organized team activities on the practice fields behind Gillette Stadium.
Vrabel touched on several topics as New England’s offseason programs begin to ramp up, including his eventful offseason, his leadership role, and any late upgrades to the Patriots’ roster.
Here are four takeaways from Wednesday’s presser:
Limiting distractions
While Vrabel tried to keep the focus on football during Wednesday’s address, the Patriots head coach did have to address the elephant in the room when it comes to his eventful offseason.
For most of the last few months, Vrabel has been at the center of one of the NFL’s top offseason storylines due to his reported relationship with former NFL reporter Dianna Russini.
The New York Post’s gossip arm, Page Six, and TMZ have released numerous photos of Vrabel and Russini together over the last few months, with the photos dating all the way back to 2020.
That lingering controversy had a direct impact on Vrabel and the Patriots’ offseason plans — with Vrabel missing Day 3 of the 2026 NFL Draft last month to seek counseling with his family.
“My priorities are my family, and this football team, and in that order,” Vrabel said last month. “There’s a balance there that I am going to create, and my family needs me this weekend, and that’s where I’ll be. But I’m confident in the people that we have. I’m confident in the preparation [for the draft].”
Given Vrabel’s repeated preachings to his players about limiting distractions over the course of a long NFL season (and offseason), the head coach was asked on Wednesday about how he’s fared in terms of curtailing his own distractions this spring.
“We all have to deal with things outside of here,” Vrabel said. “My focus and the excitement I have for coaching is what is most important right now. This is a great opportunity, the spring. We don’t have to worry about opponents. Our schedule is pretty much the same.”
“My family is great,” Vrabel added. “I love [my wife] Jen. I love the boys [Tyler and Carter]. I love my personal friends.”
Amid that ongoing offseason drama, several of Vrabel’s top players like Drake Maye, Hunter Henry, and Robert Spillane have all vouched for their head coach and offered up support.
As New England braces for a new season of football, Vrabel was asked if his ability to lead an NFL team has been impacted by recent events.
“I don’t want to speak for the players,” Vrabel said. “I’m trying to give them the information that’s going to help them do their job. I’ve talked about this, as far as the importance of the balance of their own success, which leads to great things for them and the people that they care about, and then also try to manage that with the team.”
A blockbuster trade in the works?
With the NFL Draft and the start of the free agent signing window now in the rearview mirror, the Patriots have largely settled most of their roster reshuffling.
But with June 1 rapidly approaching, the writing seems to be on the wall that the Patriots and Eagles will cross the t’s and dot the i’s on a blockbuster trade that will send All-Pro wideout A.J. Brown to Foxborough in the coming weeks.
As expected, Vrabel didn’t take the bait on Wednesday when it came to offering up any confirmation or assurances when it comes to Brown’s potential arrival.
“We want to continue to improve the roster every opportunity that we get, and when those opportunities arise, I don’t know,” Vrabel said. “We’re going to look to strengthen the roster wherever we can.”
Beyond Brown’s established track record of production (six seasons with over 1,000 receiving yards), he also has plenty of history with Vrabel, as he played for him during their respective tenures with the Titans from 2019 to 2021.
Missing future team activities
Vrabel’s decision to miss Rounds 4-7 of the 2026 NFL Draft came at a busy time for New England’s top brass, as a majority of the Patriots’ draft capital was rooted in Day 3 picks.
New England ultimately drafted six players during Day 3 of the NFL Draft: cornerback Karon Prunty, offensive tackle Dametrious Crownover, linebacker Namdi Obiazor, quarterback Behren Morton, running back Jam Miller, and edge rusher Quintayvious Hutchins.
Vrabel was asked on Wednesday if he has any regrets over missing out on that draft day, with Patriots executive vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf noting that the team wasn’t in contact with Vrabel before making those six picks.
“They moved around, they made some trades, and this draft was pretty unique,” Vrabel said of Day 3. “I don’t know if it’s really been talked about, but the volume of players in the draft wasn’t what it normally is, and we saw a lot of players that went back to school that probably could have come out. I would imagine that it’s the NIL and their ability to go back and play for being compensated in college. …. We moved around.
”Excited about the players that we got. Studied most of them. They knew my affinity for some of the players that we took. And then, admittedly, I don’t know if I’m going to know the 300th player in every draft. I was excited we had Behren [Morton] here on a visit. We had Karon [Prunty] here on a visit. Studied Dametrious [Crownover], who just had a son. Studied him just because Texas A&M had so many draft-worthy players. Very familiar with most of those guys.”
Vrabel was asked if he anticipates missing any more team activities moving forward.
“I can only tell you I’m going to be there today,” Vrabel said. “I can’t tell you anything other than I’m going to be out there in full force. I mean that. Who knows what’s going to come up? Anything can happen.”
A daunting schedule
The Patriots announced their 2026 schedule earlier this month, with Vrabel and Co. set for a daunting slate as the reigning AFC East and conference champions.
In total, New England will have six nationally televised games this season — headlined by a trek to Munich and a Week 1 rematch of Super Bowl LX against the Seattle Seahawks.
After taking advantage of a lighter schedule in 2025 en route to a 14-win season, the road back to the playoffs will be far more arduous this fall. In total, New England has matchups against eight teams that made the playoffs in 2025: Seattle, Buffalo (twice), Denver, Green Bay, Jacksonville, Pittsburgh, Chicago, and Los Angeles (Chargers).
The Patriots have an extended runway to prepare before Week 1 in Seattle, but Vrabel acknowledged the sizable undertaking ahead of his team.
“Playing in Seattle, playing the Seahawks, the defending Super Bowl champions, that would be a tough game when and wherever we played it,” Vrabel said. “But I think that we’ll eventually be ready for the challenge. We’re clearly not ready for it yet. I don’t think anybody is.
“But that’s what we’ll build to. We’ll have to, so many different times, handle the environment, and that’ll test us early. That’ll be something that we’ll focus on through training camp. Excited about the rest of the schedule. We’ll have to play in the heat. We’ll have to play in Munich. We’ll have to play on Thursday night with a short turnaround. We’ll have long breaks. There’ll have to be some creativity.”
Conor Ryan is a staff writer covering the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox for Boston.com, a role he has held since 2023.
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