The way Patriots coach Mike Vrabel’s Tuesday press conference “went down,” with a “last-minute sneak attack on the media and strict ground rules established by the Patriots,” suggested that the franchise “did their best to dictate the terms” of his appearance a couple of weeks after Page Six published photographs of him hugging and holding hands with NFL reporter Dianna Russini, according to Ben Volin of the BOSTON GLOBE. It also “cuts against Vrabel’s message of accountability.” Volin wrote it is “understandable that the Patriots didn’t want the media frenzy overtaking” Thursday night’s NFL Draft. However, the Patriots “easily could have sent a heads up Monday night or Tuesday morning that Vrabel would be talking.” Instead, they “purposely chose a time and method that would minimize the number of reporters asking him questions.” The Patriots also “set ground rules on reporters that those on hand did their best to circumvent.” After Vrabel delivered his opening statement, he did a side media session in which reporters were ordered to “turn off all cameras, including phones, and were told to ask only football questions.” MassLive’s Karen Guregian “ignored the directive and asked how Vrabel felt about Russini losing her job at The Athletic last week,” which Vrabel “respectfully declined to answer.” Reporters including Mike Giardi, Dan Roche and Dan Murphy “asked legitimate follow-ups.” When the Boston Globe’s Nicole Yang asked about Vrabel’s conversations with the Krafts, Patriots VP/Communications Stacey James “chimed in that questions should be kept to football matters” (BOSTON GLOBE, 4/21).
Patriots draw scrutiny for tightly controlled Vrabel media session
