The Patriots are being investigated for alleged cheating again.
On the heels of Tom Brady’s poor play and being booed at home during their second straight loss, the NFL also is looking into allegations that a Patriots staffer was filming the sideline of their next opponent — the Bengals — from the Cleveland press box on Sunday.
“Yeah I heard about this. You know, evidently this is our production people on the TV show that were there. We have nothing to do with anything they produce,” Patriots coach Bill Belichick said Monday on WEEI. “I’ve never even seen their tapes. This is something we had 100 percent nothing to do with.”
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that a Bengals official witnessed a video crew member filming while wearing a Patriots’ shirt in the press box and alerted the NFL, which confiscated the video.
Schefter also cited a league source saying the Patriots’ advance scout “was not filming but being filmed” for a team-produced feature entitled “Do Your Job.” The source added that the film crew was credentialed by the Browns to shoot video in the press box and that their PR staff was aware of the request.
However, ESPN’s Dianna Russini cited another source on Twitter saying that the cameraman indeed was caught videotaping the Cincy sideline early in Sunday’s loss to the Browns.
“A Bengals employee was watching the videographer/cameraman who identified himself as a Robert Kraft employee. The Bengals employee kept an eye on that monitor, the shot was of the Bengals coaches and staff on the sidelines for the entire 1st quarter,” Russini tweeted. “The Bengals employee flagged media relations. Bengals security then interviewed the Kraft videographer. This was also taped. The cameraman asked if they could just delete the footage and it all be forgotten per source.”
“I’m aware that there was an incident,” Cincinnati coach Zac Taylor told reporters Monday. “But I know the league is investigating it, so I’ve got no comment on it.”
Of course, the Patriots hardly have earned the benefit of the doubt when it comes to alleged espionage sine Bill Belichick’s team was found guilty of filming the Jets defensive coaching signals from an unauthorized location during a game in Sept. 2007. Belichick was fined $500,000, the organization was docked an additional $250,000 and the Pats had to forfeit a first-round draft pick (31st overall).
The Rams, then still in St. Louis, also accused the Patriots of illegally filming a walk-through practice ahead of Super Bowl 36 in 2002. And Brady was suspended without pay for four games in 2015 for his involvement in and knowledge of Patriots employees deflating footballs and for failing to cooperate with league investigators.
