Intrigue and suspicion seem to follow the New England Patriots everywhere, and the latest report suggests the NFL swept the visitors’ locker room at Gillette Stadium for listening devices prior to an AFC East game in Foxborough, Massachusetts, between the New York Jets and Patriots on Oct. 25.
During Thursday night’s Westwood One radio broadcast of the game between the Patriots and Miami Dolphins, analyst Boomer Esiason claimed a source told him the Jets asked the NFL to sweep their locker room for bugs on Sunday and that a sweep was performed.
On Friday, on his show on WFAN, Esiason repeated his claim regarding the sweeping for the listening devices.
However, later Friday, ESPN.com reported that league spokesman Brian McCarthy said the following: “No such request was made by the Jets.”
McCarthy added via Twitter: “We have for years conducted regular & random checks. we do not get into details of specific games.”
Pro Football Talk also confirmed that the sweep did occur, but that it was not done at the request of the Jets.
Jets coach Todd Bowles said at his news conference Friday, “I know nothing about it. We just go up there to play football.”
Pats not dwelling on record
New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady said the talk of an undefeated season is the “furthest thing from anybody’s mind.”
The Patriots once again look unstoppable with a 7-0 record, leading to comparisons of the 2007 team that won 18 straight games before falling to the New York Giants in the Super Bowl.
“That’d be the furthest thing from anybody’s mind,” Brady said Monday morning on “Dennis and Callahan” on WEEI in Boston. “I could really care less about those type of things. When you reflect back, you think, ‘Wow, that was a great year.’ But when you’re in the middle of it, you can’t do anything about a game in December.
“We got one mission this week. It sounds like a cliche but it’s not because it’s what our team is about. We’re short-term focused. Every week, you put together a different plan. Coach talks about, ‘It’s a blank canvas.’ You start each week, and you gotta put the same amount of work in every single week. And you can’t forget one detail. Then you get one chance to go out there and do it on Sunday.”
Brady just keeps putting up special numbers. In last week’s game against the Miami Dolphins — his ninth win in as many tries on Thursday night — he threw for 356 yards and four touchdowns. He finished 26 of 38, recording his 69th 300-yard game — which ranks third all-time — and his 24th game with four touchdowns or more, also third. It was his 19th career game with at least four TDs and no interceptions, an NFL record.
For the season, Brady has 20 touchdown passes and his only interception went in and out of the hands of wide receiver Julian Edelman.
The Patriots host the Washington Redskins on Sunday.
“It’s hard to win. It’s really hard to win,” Brady said. “It’s easy to take it for granted because we have a good record and we’ve played well for a period of time. But I don’t think we as players ever take it for granted. I’ve been around long enough to know how hard it is to get the ball in the end zone, to put together drives. It’s no easy task. You gotta keep working at it.”