Patriots embracing 'us against the world' mentality as Super Bowl loss, Mike Vrabel controversy lingers

New England Patriots players were always going to experience somewhat of a different offseason after the club suffered a 29-13 Super Bowl loss to the Seattle Seahawks this past winter. 

Of course, nobody could have guessed at the time that Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel and longtime NFL reporter Dianna Russini would become the subjects of a controversy and of one of the most-discussed football-related stories of the spring. Patriots linebacker Christian Elliss recently suggested that he and others in the New England locker room are flying high despite all that has happened since early February 2026.

Patriots still embracing the "We All We Got, We All We Need" mantra

"For me, personally, and I know a lot of the guys here ... it’s nothing but a confidence builder going to the game we went to last year," Elliss said, per Karen Guregian of MassLive. "We knew we could get there. But obviously, the rest of the country was like, 'They aren’t going to do it.' So for us, it’s almost like it’s us against the world type of thing. We all we got, we’re all we need. So this year, especially, it’s been really good after last year."

Vrabel reportedly has the "full support" of Patriots owner Robert Kraft, and numerous New England players have backed Vrabel since pictures first emerged of the coach and Russini, who are married to other people, spending time together at an Arizona resort in late March. 

Meanwhile, second-year safety Craig Woodson is among the Patriots players who are focusing more on putting the Super Bowl defeat behind them than on the Vrabel-Russini story.

The Patriots want to get back to where they were this past February

"I think everybody just wants to move forward, and keep working," Woodson said about New England's response to the loss on football's biggest stage. "We just want to keep working to get back to where we want to be. Win games this year. And it starts now. We have to work, put in the grind, and everything will take care of itself. Obviously, what happened last year is what happened last year. Now it’s time to take advantage of the new opportunity we have."