Belichick, Pats’ staff not implicated in NFL probe

The NFL has found no evidence linking coach Bill Belichick or others on the New England Patriots’ football staff to the video shot by a crew on behalf of the team showing footage of the Cincinnati Bengals’ sideline during a game last month in Cleveland, according to people familiar with the matter.

The league’s investigation of the latest video incident involving the Patriots is winding down and could be completed as soon as this week, according to those people. They said it remains likely at this point, barring the last-minute uncovering of more damaging evidence, that the NFL will impose penalties consistent with those handed out in recent years in other cases of game day infractions.

That would mean the Patriots probably would be facing a fine in the hundreds of thousands of dollars and possibly the loss or reduction in value of a draft pick.

It is not clear, however, when the NFL will announce a decision. Once NFL security officials complete their investigation and submit their findings, commissioner Roger Goodell and other league leaders still must review those findings, decide whether to conduct additional interviews, deliberate over the potential penalties and determine when to announce the ruling.

But there is no indication Belichick or the Patriots’ football staff has been tied to the video or that the investigation has uncovered evidence of a sustained, organized effort by the Patriots to gain a competitive on-field advantage, according to those people with knowledge of the case.

Belichick has said repeatedly he and the Patriots’ football staff had no involvement in the video.

Belichick and the Patriots were fined US$750,000 in the Spygate case in 2007. The Patriots were found to be improperly taping opponents’ coaching signals.

The Washington Post