Bengals coach Zac Taylor’s answer to a question during Monday’s press conference was the first public acknowledgement that members of a Patriots video crew taped the Bengals sideline during last Sunday’s game against the Browns, but he didn’t feel like discussing the matter further on a Thursday conference call with New England media.
Taylor said no comment to five questions early in the call, including one asking for his general thoughts on the incident and another about whether he believed the Patriots’ explanation for what happened. The Patriots said the crew was doing a feature on a pro scout and that the footage of the Bengals was an unintentional violation of league policy.
Taylor was willing to answer why he believed it was best to have no comment to those queries before the Bengals host the Patriots on Sunday.
“Because this is a tough opponent right now, and we’re devoting all of our time to making sure we’re prepared. And so that’s where all of our focus has been on,” Taylor said.
NFL executive vice president of football operations Troy Vincent said on Wednesday that the league is still gathering information about the incident.