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New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel answered questions about recent criminal allegations against star players Stefon Diggs and Christian Barmore in a press conference on Wednesday.
Diggs was accused of attacking a private chef during a dispute about money, while Barmore has been accused of domestic assault and battery charges after his girlfriend told police he had thrown her to the ground in August.
Vrabel said the recent developments aren’t “disappointing.”
“I would say not disappointing at all. These are allegations,” Vrabel said when asked how disappointing the “distractions” were ahead of the playoffs. “It’s things that we have to handle, and every day there’s distractions, some are smaller than others. I’m confident that we’ll focus on the Dolphins, and those two individuals that you mentioned will be able to handle the ongoing legal process.”
Vrabel also said he doesn’t expect the developments to be distracting.
“Afraid? No, not afraid,” he said.
Vrabel declined to clarify if there would be any team discipline assigned to the players, and suggested the team had been aware of the alleged incidents prior to them being revealed to the public.
“Again, there’s ongoing legal matters. And these, again, are allegations. We’ve made a statement, we’ve taken the allegations very seriously, and what comes of that, I think then we’ll have another discussion. But I don’t think we have to jump to any sort of conclusions right now and let the process take its toll,” he said. “We always want to gather more information, but these are — we’ve been aware of these allegations. Yesterday and today aren’t the first that we’ve heard about them. Trying to do everything in accordance with the league policy and making sure that we’re in compliance with the league.”
When asked when the team was made aware of Diggs’ allegations, Vrabel said, “When they were able to make us aware from the court filings and some things like that.”
In a statement, the team acknowledged the situation and said the 32-year-old receiver denied the claims against him. “The New England Patriots are aware of the accusations that have been made regarding Stefon Diggs. Stefon has informed the organization that he categorically denies the allegations. We support Stefon. We will continue to gather information and will cooperate fully with the appropriate authorities and the NFL as necessary. Out of respect for all parties involved, and given that this is an ongoing legal matter, we will have no further comment at this time.”
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Vrabel was asked what the line in the statement about the team “supporting” Diggs meant, and said, “That everybody that we care about and that we have been close to for a while, we support. And we do. We understand that there’s allegations, but we also want to support each and every player, each and every coach and each and every staff member.”
Diggs allegedly strangled his female chef over money earlier this month. The woman told police Diggs “smacked her across the face,” that she tried to push him away and then he “tried to choke her using the crook of his elbow around her neck.”
Meanwhile, Barmore allegedly grabbed the victim’s phone while she was trying to leave his residence. The alleged victim then “intended to open the door and scream for help, but Christian grabbed her before she could and threw her to the floor.” Barmore then allegedly grabbed the victim by the shirt near her neck. Barmore also allegedly told the victim he would have his cousin “f— [her] up.”
The NFL has said both Diggs and Barmore are eligible to play Sunday against the Miami Dolphins.
“There is no change to the status of Diggs or Barmore. Both are eligible to play at this time,” the league said in a statement. “Pursuant to the Personal Conduct Policy (attached), consideration for placement on the Commissioner Exempt List may be considered following formal charges in the form of an indictment by a grand jury, the filing of charges by a prosecutor, or an arraignment in a criminal court.”
David Meier, one of the attorneys of record for Diggs, confirmed that the veteran NFL wide receiver categorically denies the claims brought against him and added the dispute was between an employer and an employee.
“Stefon Diggs categorically denies these allegations. They are unsubstantiated, uncorroborated, and were never investigated — because they did not occur. The timing and motivation for making the allegations is crystal clear: they are the direct result of an employee-employer financial dispute that was not resolved to the employee’s satisfaction. Stefon looks forward to establishing the truth in a court of law.”
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Barmore’s attorney released the following statement:
“We are confident that the evidence will demonstrate that no criminal conduct took place. Based on the facts and the law, we expect that this personal matter will be resolved in the near future and both parties will move forward together.”
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