Report: NFL 'Inclined To Believe' Patriots' Explanation On Bengals Video, Resolution Could Come Soon
BOSTON (CBS) -- The Patriots explained Monday night why a production crew unknowingly broke a rule when filming the Bengals' sideline on Sunday. On Tuesday, it appears that the league is believing their story.
NFL Network's Ian Rapoport said that the league is "inclined to believe" what the Patriots had to say about the incident, and that the team could end up only getting hit with a fine and nothing more.
"I do get the same sense that the league is inclined to believe the Patriots' explanation," Rapoport said on NFL Network on Tuesday. "But obviously that doesn't mean the Patriots are off the hook. They did admit that they did not alert the Bengals, they did not alert the NFL. Clearly, there was at the least a miscommunication here which would lead me to believe based on the people I've spoken with that if they got penalized, it would be something along the lines of a fine."
NFL Network's Judy Battista reported something similar, noting that a long, drawn-out process is not expected for the investigation.
"They are moving pretty quickly," Battista said. "They would like to get this wrapped up. They've got the tape, they've looked at it, they want to get this wrapped up in terms of if there's going to be any discipline. And the vibe I get is there seems to be like they are leaning toward believing the Patriots' version of events. What one person said to me was, 'I just want to know if what is on that tape is anything that they could not get from watching on TV or from the coaches' tape.'"
The Washington Post's Mark Maske made the same report, noting that a resolution could be determined as soon as this week.
