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Super Bowl champion LeSean McCoy has come to the defense of New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel and New York Times/The Athletic NFL reporter Dianna Russini.
Photos originally published by Page Six of the New York Post showed the coach and the reporter holding hands, hugging and sitting in a pool in swimsuits at a resort bungalow in Sedona, Arizona. While many people have been very critical of Vrabel and Russini, McCoy had no problem with it.
“I like Mike, I like Mike. I mind my own business. They work together,” McCoy told TMZ Sports.
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Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back LeSean McCoy runs with the football against the Kansas City Chiefs during Super Bowl LV at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida on February 7, 2021. (Mark J. Rebilas/USA TODAY Sports)
“Everybody does something great with everything. He’s a great coach, he’s a great player. He was just at the Super Bowl, they had something to say. That’s what happened.”
“I don’t see anything wrong with it.”
Both Vrabel and Russini are married and both have denied any wrongdoing. Vrabel married Jen in 1999 and they have two sons together. The 50-year-old coach said the interaction was completely innocent.
“These photos show a completely innocent interaction and any suggestion to the contrary is laughable,” Vrabel told the New York Post. “It deserves no further response.”
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New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel watches the first half of the AFC NFL Championship football game against the Denver Broncos, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Russini, who married her husband Kevin Goldschmidt in 2020 and they have two sons together, said the photos misrepresented what really happened.
“The photos do not depict the group of six people hanging out together during the day. Like most NFL reporters, reporters interact with sources far from stadiums and other locations,” Russini told the New York Post.
Vrabel took the Patriots to the Super Bowl in his first season as Patriots head coach and won NFL Coach of the Year for the second time in his career.
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Dianna Russini attends the Fanatics Super Bowl Party 2026 at Pier 48 in San Francisco, California on February 7, 2026. (Cindy Ord/Getty Images)
Russini, 43, joined The Athletic in 2023, leaving ESPN after more than eight years.
McCoy played 12 seasons in the NFL. He spent six seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles, four seasons with the Buffalo Bills, one with the Kansas City Chiefs and one with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The 37-year-old won a Super Bowl with the Chiefs in 2019 and the Buccaneers in 2020. In 170 games, McCoy rushed for 11,102 yards with 73 touchdowns, while catching 518 passes for 3,898 yards and 16 touchdowns.
