Mike Vrabel was asked on Thursday to react to The Athletic releasing the findings of its investigation into Dianna Russini.
Russini, who resigned amid the Vrabel photos scandal earlier this year, was being investigated by The Athletic for her conduct as an NFL insider. Russini has declared that she is “no longer a journalist.” She has mostly withdrawn from the public eye.
The Athletic announced Thursday that Russini was not compliant with company standards. “Specifically, when it comes to The Athletic’s standards, Russini was noncompliant,” the report said.
The investigation, though, did not determine the full extent of the Russini-Vrabel relationship. It remains unclear, at least officially, if Russini and Vrabel were romantically involved, or just socially. Both are married with children. Vrabel did go to counseling after the scandal broke.
“We neither completed an investigation nor reached any conclusion about the nature of the full relationship between Vrabel and Russini, but the totality of the public photographs are enough to conclude a violation of company policy,” the report said.
The Athletic did not find that Russini’s relationship with Vrabel impacted her reporting.
“Russini should have disclosed to The Athletic the nature of her relationship with Vrabel to allow editors to assess the kinds of stories on which she should have been working, if any,” the investigation stated. “She did not.”
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On Thursday, Vrabel was asked for his reaction to the investigation concluding.
He had little to say.
“No, I don’t have any reaction,” Vrabel said. “We’re moved on and focused on Seattle and focused on the Patriots and focused on getting better this week.”
The Patriots open the year next week against the Seahawks.
