FOXBOROUGH – For the first time since holding an uncomfortable press conference just hours before day one of the draft – to announce, no less, that he would be away from the team on day three of those festivities because “my family needs me” – Mike Vrabel took to the podium again in Foxborough and said he has no regrets about that decision or what the team did in his absence.
“No,” Vrabel said, “they moved around, and they made some trades. And, again, this draft was pretty unique. … Excited about the players that we got. Studied most of them. They (the front office) knew my affinity for some of the players that we took. And then, admittedly, I don’t know that I’m going to know the 300th player in every draft. So I was excited.”
Back in April, Vrabel was in the early stages of damage control after the New York Post’s Page Six revealed photos of him and former Athletic insider Dianna Russini. I reported at the time that some of his messaging wasn’t as well received as earlier, but since then, the tide has shifted (which I also reported), and Vrabel appears to have come out on the other side.
“We all have to deal with things outside of here (football). My focus, and obviously the excitement that I have for coaching, is what is most important right now,” he said when I asked how he’s navigated the self-described “distraction” before redirecting the answer toward football. He would repeat that tactic on nearly every question that dealt with the fallout from the Page Six/TMZ revelations, including this exchange with yours truly.
Q: Mike, you lead the room daily. How have you felt the players have responded to your –
MV: Not every day, Mike [Giardi]. Some of your sources probably aren’t as good. I don’t have a team meeting every single day in the spring.
Q: Almost every day? Close to?
MV: Sometimes. Most of the time.
Q: Regardless, you’re in front of the room. How have you felt the players have responded to your leadership because it was such a critical point last year? What’s your feeling?
MV: I don’t want to speak for the players (me interjecting: not asking you too). I feel great. I feel like I’m trying to give them the information that is going to help them do their job. I’ve talked about this as far as the importance of the balance between their own success, which leads to great things for them and the people that they care about, but then also trying to manage that with the team. That’s a fine balance of the dynamic that we wage in this business of professional sports. I try to do that each day.
I will tell you that exchange was the closest we’ve come to seeing Vrabel’s
