FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — Patriots coach Bill Belichick says he's not commenting on reports that the New York Jets had their locker room swept for listening devices when they visited New England.
The Boston Herald reported this week that the Jets asked the NFL to sweep the visiting locker room for bugs before their Oct. 25 game at Gillette Stadium. The paper also reported that three Patriots employees were interrogated before the game.
But on Friday, the NFL said no such request was made by the Jets. League spokesman Brian McCarthy added on Twitter: "We have for years conducted regular and random checks. We do not get into details of specific games."
Asked about the reports on a conference call Sunday, Belichick deferred questions to the league, saying, "We don't have anything to do with any of those things."
Former NFL quarterback Boomer Esiason said during Westwood One's radio broadcast of Dolphins-Patriots on Thursday night that he was told the Jets had requested the NFL to sweep their locker room at New England for listening devices before New York's game there last Sunday.
Esiason reiterated that Friday on his "Boomer & Carton" radio show on WFAN.
Patriots opponents have been suspicious of the team's tactics ever since it was caught illegally videotaping opponents' coaches in the 2007 "Spygate" scandal. The suspicions have increased after an NFL report found that New England provided improperly inflated footballs for the AFC championship game in January.
