Patriots: Bill Belichick reacts to Bengals videotaping scandal

Patriots HC Bill Belichick answered questions about the Bengals videotaping scandal.

If there’s one blemish on the resume of the New England Patriots’ dynasty, it’s the handful of scandals they’ve been punished for through the years. In 2007, the franchise was disciplined by the NFL for videotaping the New York Jets’ defensive signals from an unsanctioned location.

Fast forward seven years and New England was accused of deflating game footballs at the instruction of quarterback Tom Brady prior to the team’s victory over the Indianapolis Colts in the 2015 AFC Championship Game.

The Patriots once again found themselves at the center of controversy last season when a staffer was caught videotaping the Cincinnati Bengals sideline during Week 14. Well, after a prolonged silence, head coach Bill Belichick offered his thoughts on the league’s punishment.

“Obviously had a long investigation on that,” Belichick told reporters on Friday. “Really, we’re just looking ahead. We have a lot of things in front of us here, especially just getting ready for the season and all that. We’ve moved on. We’ll deal with what we have to do in front of us here. Just let everything go into the rearview mirror.”

A vague response that doesn’t really answer much of anything and confirms that the Patriots are moving forward? We might only be in training camp, but the legendary head coach is in midseason form as it pertains to his handling of the media.

After an investigation, the NFL punished New England in the form of $1.1 million in organizational fines, the forfeiture of a 2021 third-round draft pick and the disallowance of television crews to record games during the 2020 season.

As much clarity as it would bring, we’ll likely never know how serious the Patriots’ wrongdoings were, and it’s evident that the six-time champion is prepared to take that list of disciplines to the chin and put this controversy in the rearview.