New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel will seek counseling starting this weekend and miss Day 3 of the NFL Draft, which takes place Saturday, a team source confirmed.
The news was first reported by ESPN on Wednesday, with which Vrabel shared a statement.
“As I said the other day, I promised my family, this organization and this team that I was going to give them the best version of me that I can possibly give them,” Vrabel told the outlet. “In order to do so, I have committed to seeking counseling, starting this weekend. This is something that I have given a lot of thought to and is something I would advise a player to do if I was counseling them.
“I have always wanted to lead by example and I believe this is what I have to do to be the best husband, father and coach that I possibly can be. This is not an easy thing for me to admit, but it is one that I know will make me a better person. I appreciate the support that everyone has given me and promise a stronger resolve as a result.”
The news comes a little more than two weeks after The New York Post published photos showing Vrabel at an Arizona hotel hugging and holding hands with Dianna Russini, who was The Athletic’s senior NFL insider at the time.
Initially, both Vrabel and Russini, who are each married to other people, dismissed the photos as unrepresentative of what took place. Vrabel called them “laughable” in a statement to The New York Post.
Vrabel publicly addressed the photos for the first time in a Tuesday news conference, saying he “had some tough conversations with people that I care about — with my family, the organization, the coaches, the players.”
Russini resigned from The Athletic last week.
The Patriots have the No. 31 pick in the draft, which begins Thursday night. Vrabel is expected to be one of the team’s top decision-makers on Thursday and Friday night, when the first three rounds of the seven-round draft take place, before leaving the team’s facility to seek counseling on Saturday.
The Patriots have eight picks on Day 3 of the draft, which will be led by Eliot Wolf, the team’s executive vice president of player personnel.