The New England Patriots have once again found themselves under investigation for something they allegedly did with a video camera, but early indications are that they were not engaging in any Spygate-like activity this time around.
During his press conference on Monday, Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor was asked a question about a Patriots official being accused of filming his team’s sideline from the press box during Sunday’s game between the Bengals and Browns in Cleveland. Taylor said he was aware of an “incident” but had no further comment on it, and the team later said the same in a statement.
Statement from the Bengals: "We are aware of the incident, and we are aware it is being investigated by NFL Security. We will have no further comment." https://t.co/s9OL8dOX2w
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) December 9, 2019
The Patriots seem confident the investigation will show they did nothing wrong. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the New England official the Bengals saw in the press box was being filmed, not filming anything. Apparently the Patriots were filming a segment for a feature called “Do Your Job,” and they had permission from the Browns.
Patriots’ advance scout was not filming but being filmed, per a league source. He was being filmed for a feature the team produced called, "Do Your Job." The video crew was credentialed by the Browns to shoot video in the press box and their PR person was aware, per the source
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) December 9, 2019
An official for the Bengals, who were playing at Cleveland Sunday, saw a member of the video crew wearing a Patriots’ shirt and alerted the league, which confiscated the video, according to the source. NFL has video; Patriots say video is a press-box feature of the advance scout.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) December 9, 2019
While they have done some questionable things in the past to gain an advantage over their opponents, it would be pretty brazen of the Patriots to have a team employee filming an upcoming opponent’s signals from the press box at another team’s stadium. We doubt anyone is that reckless.
We have seen countless examples of teams getting paranoid when facing the Patriots, and this may be another one. While New England has struggled to put points on the board and is coming off back-to-back losses, they should be able to handle the one-win Bengals without illegally spying on them in advance.
