New England Patriots - NESN.com
Bill Belichick used to publicly act like he didn’t pay attention to rumors despite privately obsessing over them and where they came from. His could-not-care-less-about-the-media routine was a total farce.
Mike Vrabel is a bit different. The New England Patriots head coach clearly also has rabbit ears for local reporting — but he isn’t hiding it.
The latest example: Vrabel’s interview with 98.5 The Sports Hub’s Scott Zolak before Thursday night’s preseason road loss to the New York Giants. When asked about recent trade rumors involving Anfernee Jennings and Kyle Dugger, Vrabel fired a shot at Zolak over his own spotty reporting track record.
“I don’t know, you’ve reported a lot of things that may not necessarily have been true,” Vrabel said. “So I wouldn’t put a lot of stock into the reports that go around. You know that better than anybody.”
Vrabel likely was referencing Zolak’s recent spreading of a bogus, AI-generated rumor about Drake Maye and his wife donating all of their wedding gifts to charity. He also might’ve been referencing Zolak’s late-May claim about the Patriots considering cutting Stefon Diggs.
Vrabel clearly has little patience for rumor-mongering about his team. However, he seemingly holds even more disdain for Patriots staffers who leak intel to reporters, as evidenced by his reaction to a question about Ja’Lynn Polk reportedly heading for season-ending shoulder surgery.
“I’d like to find out where some of these (reports) come from,” Vrabel said after Thursday’s game. “Some of these rats around here. So, we’ll figure that out.”
