Say this for Bill Belichick and the Patriots: They always seem to find a way to get into their opponents' heads, even when they don't try.
Former NFL quarterback Boomer Esiason said on New York's WFAN that the Jets asked NFL officials to search their locker room for listening devices prior to last week's game in Foxborough.
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NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy denied the report — sort of — by telling several media outlets "No such request came from the Jets."
He did not directly answer a question from New Jersey Advance Media about whether the locker room had been swept, regardless of who might have initiated the request, and later repeated his response in a tweet.
we have for years conducted regular & random checks. we do not get into details of specific games. https://t.co/tRsXOr2iEP
— Brian McCarthy (@NFLprguy) October 30, 2015Whatever the sequence of events, it's no surprise that teams remain paranoid around the Pats, nor that the league might feel extra scrutiny is necessary.
The ESPN report from two days before this season that included allegations of Patriots employees taking play sheets from opponents' locker rooms and other shady tactics undoubtedly is fresh in everyone's mind.The Patriots' 7-0 start to the season probably won't help matters, either, though they hardly looked like they needed any extra help during Thursday night's 36-7 win against the Dolphins.
