New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel already looks as if he's in midseason form when it comes to being angry with officials months after a turbulent offseason highlighted by an alleged infidelity scandal.

In the team's first preseason game of the season against the Indianapolis Colts, Vrabel took issue with the officiating crew's on-field decisions.

Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson had the ball knocked loose by Patriots linebacker KJ Britt.

However, the officials initially ruled Richardson as being down by contact before he lost control of the ball.

Incensed, Vrabel fully wound up with his whole body and launched the red challenge flag onto the field to force the officials to look at the play again.

Social media had a field day with the throw as video posted by the Patriots racked up over a million views.

Many of the comments under the video made jokes about Vrabel's alleged affair with former NFL insider Dianna Russini. 

This marked Vrabel's first game in charge of the Patriots since the scandal broke in the offseason.

'A lot of pent up frustration there,' wrote one user on X.

One joking commenter said, 'He tossed that like he tossed his wedding ring when Diana [sic] Russini comes around.'

A similar post read, 'That's just like he threw his phone out the car window when his wife wanted to read those Russini texts.'

'Mike Vrabel had 4 months of pent-up aggression on this throw,' read another comment.

One comment read, 'Pretended it was evidence against him and Diana [sic].'

'Mike Vrabel to his phone when his wife asks why Dominos is texting him at 3am in the morning,' read a post from a meme account.

The scandal broke when the New York Post published suggestive photos of Vrabel and Russini together by themselves at an adults-only retreat in Arizona. 

Since then, more photos of the pair in various settings emerged in various outlets, including when the Daily Mail published photos of the two on a boat in Tennessee in 2021.

While the married Russini has denied any wrongdoing and stood by her reporting on Vrabel, she was later placed on leave at The Athletic before ultimately submitting her resignation to the website's parent company, The New York Times.

Nearly four months on, Vrabel was asked about the family therapy sessions the coach underwent in an attempt to save his marriage to his wife, Jen. 

On Tuesday, an ESPN reporter asked: 'What did you learn from that counseling and how did you balance that personal commitment with getting ready for this season?'

Vrabel replied: 'I think we always look at improvement. As we talk about getting ready for the next season, we always look at improvement and ways that we can improve individually and how we can improve as a team. 

'It's really critical that we continue to do that, on and off the field. I believe in that. I believe in everything we can do to help this football team, to help our coaches, to help myself and everybody else included.' 

He added: 'This journey that we're going to go on is going to be completely different than the one we went on last year. That's all of our jobs to prepare for it now.'

The previously embattled head coach continued by suggesting he is 'really focused on our improvement individually and as a team'.

Vrabel's instincts to throw the challenge flag were correct as the officials overturned the call and ruled it a fumble, giving possession to New England. 

The Patriots and Colts ended their preseason game in an unsatisfying 13-13 tie.