ESPN Corrects Report on Patriots' Contact with Mike Vrabel During Draft

The NFL's biggest story of the month—spilling into national news, morning shows, and late-night TV—saw a major development on Saturday when Patriots coach Mike Vrabel skipped the third day of the draft to attend counseling.

On Thursday, Patriots Vice President of Player Personnel Eliot Wolf explained that the draft room would miss Vrabel's leadership, presence, and skills as a recruiter of undrafted free agents.

During ESPN's draft coverage on Saturday, Peter Schrager reported:

"I've been told, from Patriot sources, that they are in constant contact with Vrabel throughout the day."

This claim raised immediate questions, as skipping the draft for counseling would logically preclude constant contact with the team.

Later, Schrager walked back the report. While not explicitly calling it a retraction, he clarified:

"Following up on the Vrabel report, it was my understanding that Coach Vrabel was going to be in contact with the staff via phone/text, but I've learned that in the end, both Vrabel and the team ultimately chose not to interrupt him and his family during Day 3 of the Draft."

His revised statement starkly contrasted with the initial claim, shifting from "constant contact" to no contact whatsoever.

Patriots executive Eliot Wolf later addressed reporters on Saturday, providing further clarity on the team's communication with Vrabel.

Patriots Executive Eliot Wolf's Statement

Wolf was asked about contact with Vrabel during the draft:

"So, last night we kind of talked through things and made the decision that the time away really needs to be time away, so we were not in contact with Mike today other than some just, ‘Hope everything's going OK’ kind of texts early this morning."

Wolf was also asked about Vrabel's message heading into the third day of the draft:

"Just words of encouragement. He knows our process, and again, we talked about what kind of players we needed to add. We knew what kind of players that he liked, and obviously we drafted some of the guys that he had an affinity for today."

The discrepancy between ESPN's initial report and the Patriots' official statements suggests a significant error in the network's coverage.