The noise around former The Athletic NFL insider Dianna Russini and the New England Patriots head coach, Mike Vrabel, has never really simmered down. Just last week, The Athletic’s Executive Director had told Page Six that they were still investigating what had happened, despite two months having passed since it all first came to light.

And now, NFL insider Michael McCarthy has added another layer to it. He reported that the investigation is “limited to the former Senior NFL Insider’s journalism for The Athletic, not her conduct.”

The statement from The Athletic last week was the first time there was anything from the organisation about the Russini incident since they first showed their support for her after the news had broken.

“It’s going to take a few more weeks,” The Athletic’s executive editor Steven Ginsberg said, per the Post. “There’s just a lot to go through, and we obviously want to take our time and be careful doing that. We will update everybody when we get to the end of that. We’ve also said that if we find anything that needs to be corrected, we will correct it along the way.”

All of this started on April 7, when Page Six published a series of photos showing Russini and Vrabel together at a resort in Sedona, Arizona.

The images were reportedly taken in May 2026 ahead of the NFL owners meeting in Arizona. A few weeks later, Page Six released another batch of photos from 2020, showing Vrabel and Russini at a New York bar.

Soon after, TMZ also released a set of pictures and documents, reporting Vrabel and Russini renting a boat in Tennessee in June 2021. While both Vrabel and Russini denied the allegations, the controversy led the Patriots’ head coach to miss the third day of the 2026 NFL draft to seek counselling. Russini, meanwhile, submitted her resignation.

“I have come to this decision with deep sadness but with clarity about what is right for me, my family, and the work I have spent my career building,” she said in a statement. “I do not do so because I accept the narrative that has been constructed around this episode, but because I refuse to lend it further oxygen to let it define me or my career.”

Now, Vrabel has resumed his job as the Patriots’ head coach during the team’s OTAs and the mandatory minicamp. And while McCarthy’s report suggests that the investigation concerns Russini’s journalism for the outlet rather than her conduct, it naturally raises the question of whether the outlet will eventually release the final report.

Despite all that has happened, Russini has maintained her silence, but her friend believes she would say her side of the story.

Dianna Russini could come forward to share her side of the story

Ever since she resigned from her senior NFL insider role at The Athletic, Dianna Russini hasn’t said anything publicly. Per reports, she has deactivated her social media handles, with uncertainty building about her career. Amid the controversy, however, Jon “Stugotz” Weiner addressed Russini’s situation and noted that she could come forward to share her side of the story.

“This is her story to share when she feels like sharing it,” Weiner said, per Awful Announcing. “It is not me. And it is not my obligation to talk to Dianna Russini privately on the phone and then share it with a radio audience that she doesn’t want me to share it with, because it’s not my story to tell. It’s her story to tell on her timeline.”

With an investigation still ongoing and the training camp approaching, any more developments would cause a huge stir across the league. As for Mike Vrabel, he and the Patriots have wrapped up the mandatory minicamp and are now looking forward to kicking off the training camp after the summer break.