Patriots coach Bill Belichick denied any knowledge of doctored footballs in his first comments about Deflate-gate, and placed the issue squarely at the feet of his star quarterback Tom Brady.
“Tom’s personal preferences on his footballs are something that he can talk about in much better detail and information than I could possibly provide,” Belichick said in his nationally televised press conference Thursday.
Brady will speak to the media Thursday afternoon.
Belichick, known as a micromanager with a reputation for pushing the limits of the rulebook, said he’s never spoken to players or officials about the inflation pressure of game balls.
“I can tell you that in my entire coaching career I have never talked to any player, staff member about football air pressure. That is not a subject that I have ever brought up,” he said.
Belichick said he has no knowledge the Patriots tampering with the footballs after they were inspected — but suggested atmospheric conditions may have played a role.
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“I’ve learned about the inflation range situation, obviously, with our footballs being inflated to the 12½-pound range, any deflation would then take us under that specification limit,” he said.
“Knowing that now, in the future we will certainly inflate the footballs above that low level to account for any possible change during the game. As an example, if a ball deflated from 13.2 to 12.9, it wouldn’t matter, but if it deflated from 12.5 to 12.3, it would — as an example. So we will take steps in the future to make sure we don’t put ourselves in that type of potential situation again.”
Pressure inside the ball would decrease if it was tested in warmer conditions (inside, at room temperature) and then used on a significantly colder playing field.
Brady has previously expressed a preference for a slightly deflated football.
• Ian Bishop can be reached at ibishop@washingtontimes.com.
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