New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel took questions about his recent decision to step away from the team amid a series of photo leaks that appear to show him engaging in romantic and personal moments with former New York Times/The Athletic reporter Dianna Russini.

Vrabel will miss multiple days of the NFL Draft, which he announced early on Thursday. 

In the hours that followed that announcement, photos that appeared to show Vrabel and Russini kissing at a bar were published by the New York Post and were reportedly taken six years ago.

Later Thursday, TMZ published photos of Vrabel and Russini at a casino.

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“My previous actions don’t meet the standard that I hold myself to,” Vrabel said. “My priorities are my family and this football team, in that order. And there is a balance there that I am going to create.”

At the end of the news conference, Vrabel was asked to explain why he initially made a statement calling photos of him and Russini at an Arizona resort “laughable” after they were published by the New York Post earlier in April.

“That’s a private and personal matter. I don’t think that those comments … it was an attempt to protect your family,” Vrabel said.

It was the last question Vrabel answered before storming off the podium and out of the room.

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Vrabel will be leaving the team’s NFL Draft in the hands of general manager Eliot Wolf.

“I’m confident in the people that we have. I’m confident in our preparation,” Vrabel said. 

“When you prioritize your family first and your job, that’s what’s required. And that’s what’s was necessary. Got a lot of support from everybody involved. So, that’s what I was able to do — and willingly — and I want to do that.

“When my family needs me, I’ll be there.”

When asked if he would miss any more football activities in the coming weeks, Vrabel said, “I can’t answer that. I can only say whatever my family needs, that’s what I’m going to provide.

“I have to do what’s needed of me with my family. So, again, I’m confident that whatever they need, I’m going to provide.”

When asked if he felt he had to prove himself again to his players, Vrabel said, “I have to make them a priority, that’s what I have to do. I have to make my family and this football team my priority.”

The Patriots released a statement ahead of the 2026 NFL Draft Thursday night voicing support for Vrabel.

“The New England Patriots fully support Mike Vrabel’s decision to prioritize his family first, as well as his own well-being,” the statement from the Patriots said. 

“Mike has been open with us about his commitment to being the best version of himself for his family, this team and our fans, and we respect the steps he is taking to follow through on that commitment.

“We are confident in the leadership and communication Mike has established with our personnel staff throughout this pre-draft process. While he will not be present at the facility on Saturday, we know the draft evaluations are complete, and Eliot Wolf and his personnel staff are prepared to execute our draft as planned this weekend.”

Russini resigned from her position with The New York Times last week.

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The block around Fernando Mendoza’s home in Coral Gables, Florida was roped off by early afternoon on Thursday and the roast pig – a lechon asado to Cubans like the Mendozas – was in the Caja China all day.

No, Mendoza didn’t make it to Pittsburgh for the 2026 NFL draft. But his family’s draft party in South Florida was, by all accounts, epic.

And that’s the way it should be because it was befitting of Mendoza being selected by the Las Vegas Raiders as the first overall pick of the draft.

“The last five month have been such a blessing by God, I can’t thank him enough,” Mendoza said in his first interview after being selected. “I’m just looking forward to get to work, improve at the next level. College was fantastic. I’m so bless to have that career.

“But now I step into a great game, the NFL, look forward to proving and earning it every single day.”

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Not bad for a kid who used to occasionally confess to family, friends and teammates, “I don’t imagine myself a high draft pick.”

That all changed when Mendoza transferred to Indiana University before the 2025 season, and out of that unlikely college football power came the improbable Heisman Trophy winner, national championship winning quarterback, and first pick in the draft.

The Raiders used only a minute or two of the eight allotted before turning in their card to the NFL for Mendoza.

Only in America.

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The Raiders believe in Mendoza. But the Raiders organization is rife with quarterback misfires in its recent history.

The club signed Geno Smith to make them a contender last season under coach Pete Carroll. Smith led the NFL with 17 interceptions, Carroll was fired, and the team was so bad as to “earn” the first pick in this draft.

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Before that, Gardner Minshew failed as a bridge quarterback and Aidan O’Connell didn’t quite develop into a dependable starter.

Before that, Jimmy Garoppolo signed as a free agent but was often injured and inconsistent when healthy. He started only six games in 2023 and was released the following offseason.

Before that, it was Derek Carr, mostly functional during his time, getting benched in 2022 and ultimately released.

You get the point. It’s been awhile since Ken Stabler, Jim Plunkett or even Rich Gannon won a Super Bowl for the franchise.

Mendoza is expected to turn that sad narrative around. But it won’t necessarily be right away. The Raiders signed veteran Kirk Cousins earlier this offseason as a bridge starter while Mendoza learns and develops.

The rookie will have some time. But not forever.

He’s been drafted to lift a legacy franchise back to glory. But that won’t be an easy assignment because other franchises will get a vote whether it happens.

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Mendoza goes to the AFC West where it is impossible to win without outstanding quarterback play.

The Kansas City Chiefs have owned the division since Patrick Mahomes became their starting quarterback in 2018. They won it seven consecutive times until falling back last season.

The Denver Broncos won the division last season because they have one of the NFL’s rising quarterbacks in Bo Nix, who came close to a 4,000-yard season in 2025.

The Los Angeles Chargers made the playoffs a season ago and Justin Herbert typically is among the league leaders in passing yards (9th last year) and touchdown passes (tied for seventh).

Now the Raiders answer with Fernando Mendoza – officially the No. 1 pick in the 2026 draft.

When you start thinking about which MLB teams’ fanbases have the filthiest mouths, there’s a good chance a few cities instantly jump to mind.

In fact, there’s a good chance Philadelphia popped into your head. It did for me.

But a new survey from Vegas Insider has found the most foul-mouthed fanbases in the MLB, and the top team might surprise you a little at first… and then it will make total sense.

That team? Technically, a franchise that played in Philadelphia at one point, but is now in Sacramento limbonow in Sacramento limbo ahead of a move to Vegas: the Athletics.

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This was determined by combing through each of the 30 Big League teams’ subreddits on social media platform Reddit and determining the percentage of comments that contained an expletive.

The A’s led the league with a 6.03% of comments containing a swear word, the most common of which was “f–k.”

Second was the BostonBoston Red Sox — another one of my guesses for top dog — whose comments featured a four-letter word 5.114% of the time.

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The most swear-heavy team that made “s–t” their favorite word was the Houston Astros, who came in at No. 9.

Now, I was a little surprised about the A’s at first, but given the frustrating lack of success followed by their move out of Oakland, I get it.

If my team were picking up shop, skipping town, and then playing in a minor league park for a few years, I’d probably let some expletives fly, too.

ZERO BS. JUST DAKICH. TAKE THE DON’T @ ME PODCAST ON THE ROAD. DOWNLOAD NOW!

The same study also measured the tone of comments, with the Boston Red Sox having the most negative fans, followed by the Athletics.

Again. Somewhat self-explanatory.

Hopefully, better days are ahead for the Athletics faithful.

Otherwise, it seems like they may start adding some swear jars around the stadium.