Patriots owner Robert Kraft backs Mike Vrabel after tumultuous offseason

New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel had an… interesting offseason.

Vrabel, for those of you who stay off the internet and out of the tabloids, was involved in a highly publicized scandal alongside former league insider Dianna Russini. Photos of the two from several different outings were published by Page Six and the New York Post early in the offseason — resulting in the coach admitting that he had “some difficult conversations with people that I care about” on April 21 while the latter resigned from her position with The Athletic one week earlier on April 14.

It’s been relatively smooth sailing since then, with one interesting development coming courtesy of Robert Kraft on Friday.

“We’re privileged to have Mike as our head coach,” Kraft said in an appearance on ESPN’s First Take, as shared by ESPN’s Mike Reiss. “No one is infallible. What’s great about Mike is he has great intellectual knowledge about football – all the technical skills – [and] he relates to the players beautifully. He’s someone I have a strong belief and faith in. I hope he’s going to be our head coach for many years to come.”

Kraft was pushed about using the word “hope” when discussing the future of his head coach and quickly explained the reasoning while continuing to back the man who brought his team to Super Bowl LX earlier this year.

“We like everyone to have humility, and when you say things like that, especially when you win, and you win big, staying humble,” Kraft said. “I’ll tell you, he relates to the players in a unique way. I’ve been privileged to have my three former head coaches all win Super Bowls. So, I’ve gotten to see what’s necessary in a coach. He was a great player with us, he won three Super Bowls. He has experience and he really knows how to connect.”

Kraft would be foolish not to back the man who took his franchise back to the postseason, especially after coming off back-to-back bottom-five campaigns, but his words were strong enough that it might have helped neutralize those offseason distractions as the club heads into training camp.

At least he can only hope…

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