Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Breaking: Mike Vrabel Headed To Counseling | Missing Day 3 of NFL Draft

Starting point is 00:00:00 Mike Vrable is headed to counseling during the NFL draft, and the Vrable Diana Rusini story is now impacting the football program in a big way. This is Lockdown Patriots. You are Locked on Patriots, your daily New England Patriots podcast, part of the Locked-on Podcasts network, your team every day. What's happening? I am your host, Nick Cattles. You know, we were hopeful we could completely focus on the NFL. NFL draft today. That was the plan. We're going live immediately following round one tonight.

Starting point is 00:00:40 But a midnight news dump changed that original plan because now we've got to go live right here, right now, Thursday, late morning, early afternoon because Mike Vrable is headed to counseling this weekend. And now we have tons of questions about how all of this has unfolded and it's inevitable impact on the football program. I was stunned when I woke up this morning to read that Mike Vrable will be MIA on day three of this draft. He's going to be out of town on Saturday. Mike Reese got the story ESPN again right after midnight. And this is what Reese wrote. Mike Vrable won't be with the team for the third day of the NFL draft Saturday. Here's what Vrable told Mike Reese Wednesday night. Quote,

Starting point is 00:01:31 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. 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 everyone has given me and promise a stronger resolve as a result, unquote. We'll get to the impact on the draft in a few minutes. But first, this is an absolute PR disaster. This is not what you want from a public relations

Starting point is 00:02:29 standpoint. And I have a lot of questions. I have a lot of questions that we will get to in a minute. But the first thing I thought of was, you know, calling the initial story, New York Post, page six, when the three pictures came out, Mike Vrable went on record and said that the insinuation that he was doing something with Diana Rusini beyond just getting together as a couple of friends in Arizona was quote unquote laughable. Well, that comment from Vrable, has been contradicted this week in a couple of ways. First and foremost, the press conference, the press conference on Tuesday. And the biggest question I had after that press conference was, what are you apologizing

Starting point is 00:03:13 for if this was just hanging out with a friend? You know, what is the bad decision, quote unquote, that you made? The press conference really contradicted the idea that the story initially was just laughable. just brush it aside. No big deal. Nothing to talk about. Well, you're having a press conference. So you got to talk about it. Again, at that time, I talked to Vrable and said, well, you know, if Vrable felt like he had to do this because it was a no-in situation, then maybe that's what he's doing here. But to have the press conference and to say what he said on Tuesday, again, contradicted his initial laughable statement to the New York Post. Now he's going to counseling. And not only is he going to counseling, he's going to counseling during the NFL draft.

Starting point is 00:04:03 This is one of the most important team building times of an offseason. How many, how many times have we heard the Patriots say they want to be a draft and developmental program? Well, now you've got your head coach and personnel decision maker. I believe Mike Grable has the final say on personnel. I've said that from day one since he signed on as the head coach. Now you've got your personnel decision maker, the final call, not in the room on Saturday. because he's going to counseling.

Starting point is 00:04:31 Here are some questions I have. Why wasn't this mentioned on Tuesday? You had the press conference on Tuesday. Why did you not get ahead of this? Why did you not tell the media that you were going to be gone day three because of counseling? Now, maybe you didn't want to invite questions, but I have to imagine Mike Vrable will speak to the media either tonight after round one or tomorrow night after round two.

Starting point is 00:04:55 As a matter of fact, it came out that Elliot Wolf, Mike Vrable, one of those two guys will split the nights. So Mike Vrable is going to have to talk to the media. He has planned to talk to the media, either tonight or tomorrow night. He's going to be asked about the counseling. He's going to be asked about Saturday. So if your intention, as Vrable stated, if your intention on Tuesday was to get ahead of this story and then focus on the draft because of the young men being drafted and how

Starting point is 00:05:24 important it was to the program and how important the draft is. If that were the case, then why did you not address this on Tuesday when you stood in front of the media? You could have told the media, I'm going to be out of town on Saturday to address this family situation. And I have a ton of respect and confidence for Elliott Wolf and John Stretts Stryker and Ryan Cowden and they're going to run the draft on Saturday. It's going to be in fine hands. You could have got ahead of this on Tuesday. So why was this not talked about our? Tuesday. Why was this not brought up? Why not get ahead and be fully transparent? Which brings me to another question. Is there more to come? Is there more to come with this story? And is that why

Starting point is 00:06:07 we got this past midnight news dump to Mike Reese that Rabel was not going to be in town on Saturday? Is that why it wasn't addressed on Tuesday? Because the counseling wasn't finalized until after Tuesday. Is this a last-minute decision? I mean, there are just so many unknowns with this thing, but it does give you the feeling. The fact that this was a news dump past midnight, the fact that it came out after the press conference on Tuesday, it gives you the feeling that there could be more to come with this story. I don't know if it's more pictures. I don't know if there are leaks. I have no idea. But it is a logical and reasonable question to ask, given how this has been handled.

Starting point is 00:06:51 And then you go back to the fact that it took two plus weeks. Why did it take two plus weeks to get this sorted out? Why was this not done earlier? It's really hard to believe that you're going to go to counseling because you are hanging out with a friend. Really hard to believe. Really, really hard to believe. Now, of course, maybe Mike Vrable is just going to counseling on Saturday.

Starting point is 00:07:19 day to show the commitment to the family. And maybe this is just that. But why wasn't this let out before it was let out? And that's why this is a PR nightmare. Because now on day one of the draft, I'm not talking about the draft. I will, in the third segment today, we'll get to the draft buzz.

Starting point is 00:07:42 But we're not talking about the draft as story 1A. On the day of the first round, We are now talking about your head coach and the guy with the personnel power, the guy with the final call. We're talking about that guy missing day three because he's got to go to counseling because of this page six story with the pictures of he and Diana Rusini. This is a disaster. From a public relation standpoint, I guarantee you if you shot Robert Kraft with Truth Serum, he would admit this is an all out unequivocal PR disaster for the football team. So if it's the show commitment to the family, I'm all for it. I'm all for getting help.

Starting point is 00:08:25 I'm all for committing to the family. I'm all for counseling and all. I'm all for that. But to just handle it the way it's been handled has really been a backwards approach. And it's been a mess. And the timing of how these things have come out. and the timing of how they've been addressed and handled, bring even bigger questions and feed the flames.

Starting point is 00:08:53 You're pouring gasoline on the fire by not handling this on Tuesday. With this news dump, you're making this story an even bigger story than it might have needed to be. It's just, again, been a mess. Now, maybe there's another option here. This could be Mike Vrable showing commitment to his family. family decision, absolutely. This could also be a public relations driven move by the Patriots or Vrable. Go out there, get your counseling on Saturday during the third day of the draft,

Starting point is 00:09:30 not the first, not the second day, but the third day of the draft. Show that you're trying to rehabilitate yourself, rehabilitate the relationship, show that you're a family man, show that commitment. So this could be just an honest to goodness move by the family with very weird timing during the draft or this could be a PR move by the team to try to rehabilitate their head coach's image. No matter what it is, it is a mess. And no matter what it is, it is going to impact.

Starting point is 00:10:02 It is going to impact the draft this weekend. Mike Vrable not being in the building on Saturday. We'll talk about the football impact coming up next. This is Lockdown Patriots, part of the Lockdown podcast network. Now the number one sports podcast network, your team every day. You know that feeling around dinner time when you're starving, maybe a little hangary, and somehow there's nothing in your fridge? That's why Home Chef is the easiest way to have real balanced meals ready to go without the stress.

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Starting point is 00:12:50 And don't forget to subscribe. We want to hit 10,000 subscribers. That's the next goal. And also don't forget, we are going live, live, live after round one. All right, I want to get to some of the reaction from all of you. Before we get to the football impact of Mike Vrable now missing day three of the NFL draft, due to counseling on Saturday, Stephen jumps in and says, more to come for sure. Yeah, it does beg the question, is there more to come out?

Starting point is 00:13:18 And is that why this was the news dump past midnight? Is that why it wasn't addressed on Tuesday? It all just feels kind of weird. It feels kind of weird. It absolutely feels mishandled because it was mishandled. King Pluto says, man, at some point they have to discuss firing Vrable. I don't think it's going to get that far. And, you know, unless it seriously fractures the football team,

Starting point is 00:13:42 unless, you know, this just causes the product to be worse. And the team all of a sudden, because of leadership is not playing good football, et cetera, et cetera, that's when you talk about firing variable. But I don't think you're going to fire your head coach because he might have been, and it certainly looks like he was, given what we have heard this week, he was having an affair with a writer. I don't think you're going to fire the guy because of that. Players, coaches, GMs, owners, they have a lot of activity away from the football field that is questionable.

Starting point is 00:14:22 And Mike Vrable is certainly not the first and he will certainly not be the last, you know, head coach or coach or player or owner who gets caught in the middle of some kind of scandal. if it doesn't impact the actual team on the field and if they win football games and it's business as usual from that standpoint, you're not going to fire the coach of the year. I just don't think that's going to happen. Joey Bats, it's a private matter, but let's announce he is missing the draft Saturday

Starting point is 00:14:50 for counseling of some kind. The team's PR team is a mess. Yeah, this is just, it's been mishandled. It's been mishandled entirely. And it's tough to figure out why they, you know, this thing the way they did, being quiet for a couple of weeks. You know, the initial Mike Frable statement saying laughable to the paper, which was the wrong way to handle it obviously.

Starting point is 00:15:13 Then having the Tuesday press conference saying what he said, but not addressing the counseling. And then the, you know, past midnight news dump. And now we're talking about this instead of the draft. And again, we are going to, you know, discuss the draft coming up in the next segment in the latest draft buzz. So those are some of your thoughts. Keep sending the comments in. I appreciate every single one of you. All right.

Starting point is 00:15:37 So now the page six story is directly impacting football. We talked about the idea of this story impacting the leadership and how Vrable should absolutely speak to the team because he has stressed decision making and accountability and all that stuff, which is the things he talked about on Tuesday. But now this is an even bigger football story. This is an even bigger Patriot story because it is direct. directly impacting your draft.

Starting point is 00:16:06 Again, your head coach and your shock caller, your final decision maker is not going to be there on day three. Now, there will be contact between Vrable and the front office, according to Mike Reese. Reese wrote that Vrable said he will still be in contact with the Patriots on Saturday, but he expressed confidence in Elliot Wolf and Ryan Cowden to lead the draft room. So Vrable will be on the phone, I guess, from time to time. I don't know if he's going to zoom in or not.

Starting point is 00:16:37 But Vrable will be apparently in contact, which would beg the question, are you really taking the counseling seriously if you're going to be on the phone and getting texts? But I digress. This is absolutely going to impact the football team because you have 11 picks in this year's draft. Eight of those picks are on day three. So now eight of the 11 picks are going to be made without Mike. Vrable in the room. So this is no doubt going to have impact on what happens this week and this weekend. The guy who has the final say on personnel, he's out of the room. So I would imagine he's not

Starting point is 00:17:14 going to have final say on day three. Now, maybe I'm wrong. I don't know the extent of the communication between everybody. Again, I don't know if it's Zoom. I don't know if it's FaceTime. I don't know if it's phone calls. I don't know if it's, you know, Mike Vrable can sit there for an hour on the phone while they're having conversations in the fourth round. I don't know. But it's tough for me to believe that you're going to have Vrable parachute in during every pick without having those conversations that are happening throughout in real time. It's tough for me to imagine that Vrable is going to actually be making these picks. It would feel like Elliot Wolf, John Stretched Stryker, who I think is a big part of this team, and Ryan Cowden.

Starting point is 00:17:54 It feels like those three guys, maybe Alonzo Highsmith on the peripheral, but it does feel like day three. free, those guys are going to be making these picks. So, you know, I just think you've got to streamline this thing. If there's if there's trade talks, do you, do you sit there and text Vrable and wait for his answer? You can't. Like, you've got to get moving. We know that Elliott Wolf was on the phone last year during the draft. He was responsible for pulling the trigger on those conversations to see what trades they can make. And so he's going to likely be on the phone again this year having those trade conversations. But you can't bounce it off Mike Vrable in real time if he's the middle of counseling. It's all just confusing in an utter, utter disaster.

Starting point is 00:18:37 So I would imagine it's going to be wolf, stretch, and Cowden on day three. Now, I'm not overly worried about the sixth round picks and the seventh round pick, honestly. The Patriots have four sixth round picks. They have a seventh round pick. I'm not too concerned about those picks. And the reason why I'm not overly worried about those picks, those lottery ticket picks in the sixth and seventh rounds, that is mostly from what I understand, a scout and front office area. Like a lot of those picks, late day three, you're leaning on your scouts.

Starting point is 00:19:10 You're leaning on other people. So I'm not as concerned with these sixth and seventh rounds and how big of an impact the absence of Rabel will have in those rounds because you're throwing darts, you're grabbing those lottery tickets. But you do have two fourth round picks, which is very significant in this draft. So you have two fourth round picks and you have a fifth round pick.

Starting point is 00:19:34 Now those are important picks. And to not have Vrabel in the room during that time, that's an issue. And the one question I have is knowing Mike Vrable's not going to be in the room on Saturday, are the Patriots more apt to deal day three picks now? because because the guy who has final say on personnel is not going to be in that room. Do you now trade more picks out of day three so you have to make less decisions without Vrable? Do you try to push your chips more to late day two? Do you try to push your chips to early day three?

Starting point is 00:20:17 Because maybe you have an allotted amount of time where you can actually talk to Vrable and, you know, it's early in the fourth round, so maybe you try to make movement happen so you can have those conversations with Vrable before he says, adios. Again, there's a lot unknown here, but I do wonder if the Patriots are more willing to move picks around and have less activity on day three because Vrable won't be there.

Starting point is 00:20:46 Now, the Patriots, they can certainly survive this, folks. Elliot Wolf, Ryan Cowden, John Stretch striker, three very respected personnel guys, especially stretch. You know, they have a good idea. I'm sure they have a firm plan. They can certainly survive the draft without Vrable being in the room on Saturday. But don't get it twisted. This is not ideal in any way to have this happening.

Starting point is 00:21:10 You do not want this to happen. And hopefully it doesn't get completely in the way of the operation. All right. Now let's talk. Now let's talk about the draft. because coming up, we will have the latest rumors and buzz regarding the draft's first round. We got some stuff. We got to talk about, folks.

Starting point is 00:21:30 This is Lockdown Patriots, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. The NFL draft? Yeah, I just checked. It is upon us, folks, and every pick is tradable on Kalshi. I'll give you an example. David Bailey, R. Val Reese, at number two. Will either of them be the number two pick? Well, they are trading at 50-50, meaning you'll double your money if one of them wins.

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Starting point is 00:22:54 continue to build out this lockdown Patriots community. The last year since I've been hosting has been tremendous. The growth has been exponential. And it's all because of you. I thank you. All right. Let's get. Let's get to the football now.

Starting point is 00:23:07 Let's get to the draft. It is what, roughly seven hours in 45 minutes, seven hours and 51 minutes, if you want to be exact, seven hours and 51 minutes away from the draft beginning. And yes, yes, there are things. There are things that are circulating out there about what could happen tonight. So lots of rumors floating around, lots of movement expected this weekend, GMs have gone on record saying we expect lots of trades.

Starting point is 00:23:44 Let's start here. Elliot Wolf seemed to hint on Patriots All Access that the Pats could move out of 31 in tonight's first round. Here's what Wolf said to again, Patriots All Access, according to Mike Reese. Quote, maybe the second half of this year's first round is going to be a little bit more surprising than some previous years. Pretty heavy up at the top. Then maybe from, call it 25 to 50, is sort of the same level of player. Now, Tom Pelliserro, after that comment from Mike Ray, from Mike Rable, from Elliott Wolf to Patriots All Access, Tom Pelliserro ended up actually talking about the idea of the Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks moving out of late day one

Starting point is 00:24:33 tonight in the draft. And Pelliserro addressed this on the NFL network. Pelliserro said the Patriots have gotten calls about moving down and they're open to doing it. So you've got Elliott Wolf last night, Patriots All Access, saying, you know, 25 to 50, we're talking about the same player. We're taught about the same player and maybe this year's first round, you're going to have some more surprises than you usually have. Then Tom Pellisero jumps on the NFL network this morning and says the Patriots have already received calls about moving out of the first round and the Patriots are absolutely open to doing that. Now, I still believe moving

Starting point is 00:25:10 up in tonight's draft is very, very unlikely. I just don't think they're going to give up the assets that would be needed to make a big enough jump. Now, you could get rid of the third round pick, number 95, and move up to about 25. And so if you're Elliott Wolf and you think, hey, look, you know, there's a player at 25 or 26 that we thought is actually a top 20 player, then you could move up. You could move up by giving up that third round pick. But a massive jump from, say, 31 to the top 20, I don't think that's likely. I don't think the Patriots want to give up the second round pick and maybe more to make that kind of jump in this year's draft.

Starting point is 00:25:50 I think especially they don't want to do that given the AJ Brown conversations. If you're going to make a deal for AJ Brown, well, now, you know, what do we have here? Right. So if you want to make that deal for AJ Brown, you have to sit there and say, how much draft capital are we willing to give up? How much are we willing to give up and how much is too much? So I think moving up is very unlikely. Moving out makes sense if you look at this draft and say players from 25 to 50 are pretty much the same guy, that the talent flattens out, 25 to 50. Now, there are questions.

Starting point is 00:26:30 There are questions I have. If you're going to move out of the first round, are you afraid of a run happening at edge? If you're focusing on drafting an edge, if you want an edge in one of the first two rounds and you move out of pick 31. Are you concerned that moving out at 31 will leave you pretty much empty handed at the edge position? That's one question. Another question I have is, you know, do you move out? Do you move out of 31 if you feel a top tackle is going to be there? One of the top seven guys that we've discussed on this podcast. Do you move out if a top seven tackle is sitting there. It's another question I would have. And the final question I would have is if you move

Starting point is 00:27:17 out how far down, how far down do you drop? How far down are you willing to go? Is it what we're willing to go four or five spots down, two or three spots down? Arizona to me remains the obvious and most, you know, sexy option at 34 if they want to draft Ty Simpson. But how far are you willing to move down if you do move out of the 31st pick. Some other rumors and buzz. Mel Kuiper, Mel Kiper, during the field Yates mock draft, I was reading Field Yates' mock draft and they had some Mel Kuiper notes at the end of Yates' mock draft. And Mel Kuiper noted that not only is Cassius Howell looked at as probably a day two guy, but

Starting point is 00:28:07 also KC. Concepcion. So Mel Kuiper said, you know, the buzz around the league is that both KC. Concepcion and Cassius Howell could drop the day two. So that could be part of the math. If the Patriots, you know, like Cassius Howell, if they think Cassius Howell will be there early in the second round, maybe that's part of the math of moving out because you think he's going to be there. So that's an interesting note. Also on Casey Concepcion. Concepcion. Bert Breer, Bert Breer, last night reported that there were multiple teams in the NFL that had questions about Concepcion's maturity. So now you're hearing Concepcion is dropping a little bit from certain people. Is it true? I don't know. All you need is one team to love the guy and he gets picked. But the rumors, the buzz, is that Casey Concepcion could fall into the second round, along with Cassius Howell, both guys from Texas A&M, and Bert Breer. also said that there are multiple teams that had questions about KC. Concepcion's maturity.

Starting point is 00:29:13 Third note, Malachi Lawrence, one of my favorite names in this draft, the guy, I'm hoping the Patriots can land at 31. It feels like that's not going to happen. Now, maybe the mock drafts and the buzz, they're all off, but Malachi Lawrence is a very hot name right now. Daniel Jeremiah last night on the NFL network had his mock draft, and he had Malachi Lawrence going to Dallas at number 20. Now, I'm not concerned about that because it's a mock draft. Mock drafts are hardly ever right. They're hardly ever accurate, as we know, especially in a draft like this.

Starting point is 00:29:45 But if Daniel Jeremiah has Malachi Lawrence going at number 20, it makes me feel that even if that's not the pick by Dallas at 20, Malachi Lawrence falling to 31 would be hard to believe. Because if he doesn't go to Dallas at 20, I don't think Daniel Jeremiah is off 10 or 11 or 12 spots with Malachi Lawrence's quote-unquote value in this draft. So Malachi Lawrence sounds like he's going to be off the board by the time the Patriots get to 31. Finally, Chad Graff of the Athletic, he noted in his column today that if all the edges are gone, and I'd have to imagine this also means all the tackles are gone.

Starting point is 00:30:25 If all the edges, all the tackles are gone, don't be surprised if the Patriots pick interior defensive lineman, Caden McDonald. and this would fall into the category to me as best player available. Your tackles are off the board, your edges are off the board. So you make a move and you draft a guy who could fall early into the second round, but a lot of people thought it's a first round talent, and you draft somebody like Katie McDonald. It's going to be a very interesting night.

Starting point is 00:30:52 Don't forget we're going live immediately following round number one. But that wraps up this breaking news edition of Lockdown Patriots. Thank you for making us your first listen for being in every dare. Reach out to me on Twitter at Nick C Radio. Don't forget to throw a comment in on the YouTube channel. Hit that like button. Give us a thumbs up and subscribe to Lockdown Patriots to help us out. And if you never miss an episode, you can check out the Everydayer Club.

Starting point is 00:31:14 Head to LockdownPatriots.supercast.com or check the link in the show notes to learn even more. Have a great day and we will see you tonight after round one.

Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Breaking: Mike Vrabel Headed To Counseling | Missing Day 3 of NFL Draft

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