A fast start will be Mike Vrabel’s best chance to keep media focused on football

The media loves its narratives, and there’s nothing it enjoys more than juicy speculation. When a team underperforms, we’ll put it under a microscope to determine why it’s struggling. Some reasons will be legitimate, while others will be pure conjecture.

The New England Patriots had better get off to a good start this fall, or we know what’s coming.

The Mike Vrabel-Dianna Russini scandal probably isn’t going away anytime soon. And seemingly no one except those two knows the details of their relationship. But if the Patriots flounder early, scrutiny of Vrabel will intensify.

This is not to suggest that Vrabel is in any immediate danger of losing his job.

In his first season, Vrabel led the Patriots to a division title and a surprising Super Bowl appearance. However, getting back to the Super Bowl is tough enough without a monster distraction. New England’s win total is 10.5, tied for the second-highest in the AFC behind the Baltimore Ravens (11.5). The franchise has added a legitimate No. 1 wide receiver, A.J. Brown, to pair with its young quarterback, Drake Maye.

That’s the good news. The bad news is that the schedule could put the Patriots in an early hole.

Mike Vrabel refuses to clean the wound, so people will keep picking at it https://t.co/xjSSi6Rdlj

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) May 27, 2026

Last season, they benefited from the league’s easiest schedule. They played only three playoff teams and went 1-2 against them. This season, according to Warren Sharp’s analysis, they will face the 12th-easiest schedule. The first four games are particularly difficult. New England opens the season at the Seattle Seahawks in a Super Bowl rematch. Then it plays its home opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers, visits the Jacksonville Jaguars, and travels to Buffalo to face the Bills.

Those are four playoff teams from 2025. There’s a distinct possibility the Patriots could start 1-3. If that happens, rest assured there will be more questions about Vrabel. In the offseason, Albert Breer said on Boston sports radio station 98.5that Vrabel “has not been the same” since the scandal.

“I can just tell you factually, he has not been the same the last two weeks in that building,” Breer said. “The sense I’ve gotten talking to people is that bravado and everything else. I think this has taken a chunk out of that.”

“He hasn’t been the same”: Breer Reveals Behind the Scenes Concerns on Vrabel pic.twitter.com/CzGOfhVlA4

— 98.5 The Sports Hub (@985TheSportsHub) April 24, 2026

Now, that was in April. A lot could have changed since then. Perhaps Vrabel has regained the sense of self that made him a championship football player and a successful coach. But nothing would undermine that more than losing games and rising speculation.

It would be the most human response to short-circuit under that kind of pressure. As tough as Vrabel portrays himself, he has already attracted the tabloids’ attention. Almost every time he is out with his wife, someone is taking a picture.

Winning cures almost everything in sports. People will care much less about his personal life as long as Vrabel keeps winning. If he doesn’t, things could get uncomfortable for him quickly.

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