Chirping has a different meaning to some in Beantown.

Conflicting reports have emerged about how Patriots coach Mike Vrabel reacted off-camera to NBC’s Phil Perry after the latter asked him two questions about The Athletic revealing the results of its investigation into former reporter Diana Russini’s reporting following the reveal of their alleged affair.

“I can confirm when that press conference ended Mike Vrabel might have chirped Phil Perry,” Boston radio host Jim Murray said Thursday afternoon on NESN.

When asked by “Boston Has Entered The Chat” co-host Lucy Burdge about what Perry said, he responded: “I don’t know, I just know he chirped him. I don’t think it was a pleasantry, how about that.”

Mass Live’s Mark Daniels, who was present for the press conference, had a different interpretation of the interaction.

“Vrabel poked fun of Phil for his phone going off the previous press conference,” Daniels wrote Thursday night in a quote tweet featuring Murray’s comments. “It’s not accurate to say he ‘chirped’ him. He was kidding around. That’s what he does with the media.”

The Patriots’ posted Vrabel’s press conference Thursday to their YouTube channel, but it cuts off right after he answered the final question and exited the stage.

Vrabel had to know he would be asked Thursday about the investigation’s result, with the company ruling that Russini had been “noncompliant” with company protocols due to her alleged affair.

Perry, a veteran Patriots reporter, asked two questions to Vrabel.

The first question focused on whether the second-year Patriots coach had a reaction to the results.

“No, I don’t have any reaction to that,” Vrabel said. “We’re moved on and focused on Seattle and focused on the Patriots and focused on getting better this week.”

Perry then followed up by asking if Vrabel felt the situation was “fully behind you.”

“Try to just say that I’ve moved on and excited about this new opportunity here as we start this season,” Vrabel said with the season opener six days away at the time.

It’s clear that Vrabel made a retort to Perry at some point, although it’s an interesting wrinkle that two parties viewed it in a different light.

There are always personal relationships involved in such situations that can provide necessary context to how a coach interacts with specific reporters.

Last December, for example, Vrabel sternly said, “Don’t cut me off, Phil,” when Perry attempted to follow up mid-question when discussing injuries.

Vrabel’s answer Thursday and his alleged response, though, indicate that he will be avoiding this topic even if continues to pop up throughout the year.

He originally claimed innocence when Page Six published in April exclusive photos of him and Russini holding hands at an Arizona hotel.

“These photos show a completely innocent interaction and any suggestion otherwise is laughable,” he told Page Six. “This doesn’t deserve any further response.”

The situation was not laughable with more evidence of the pair being more than friends emerged and Vrabel eventually had to address the matter with his team and family.

Thursday’s report focused more on Russini than Vrabel, with The Athletic’s editorial director for standards publishing the results of his multi-month investigation into the alleged tryst.

He did not speak directly with Russini during his process, per ESPN, and said that she should have disclosed to her employer “the nature” of her relationship with Vrabel.

“Russini’s relationship with Vrabel was in clear violation of The Athletic’s standards,” he wrote. “Regardless of whether the relationship was romantic, it was a breach and should have been disclosed.”

While he noted that Russini did not write often on Vrabel beyond news and transactions, he still saw some problematic themes.

Semel wrote: “That said, there are examples of Russini writing glowingly of Vrabel that in hindsight are awkward or even uncomfortable.”