Belichick: Pats followed every rule
— -- Bill Belichick stated that the New England Patriots "followed every rule" in preparing their footballs for last Sunday's AFC Championship Game, offering several potential reasons behind the "Deflategate" controversy.
Belichick addressed the issue in a lengthy statement Saturday, one day after the NFL announced that it has not drawn any conclusions yet on how the Patriots used under-inflated footballs during the first half of the conference title game against the Indianapolis Colts.
After detailing the organization's preparation process and hinting that weather conditions may have affected the air pressure in the footballs, the longtime Patriots coach emotionally defended his team, saying "we did everything as right as we can do it."
"At no time was there any intent whatsoever to try to compromise the integrity of the game or to gain an advantage," Belichick said.
Belichick also said he's learned a lot more about the science of air pressure than he knew from a lifetime around the game. He could not provide answers as to exactly why 11 of the Patriots' initial 12 game balls in the AFC title game were under-inflated, but he explained how other things such as temperature could have an effect.
Patriots star quarterback Tom Brady has come under intense scrutiny for possibly playing a role in the controversy. But Belichick claimed that the feel of the ball -- not the air pressure -- is the top priority.
"I think the most important part of the football for the quarterback is the feel of the football," Belichick said. "I don't think there is any question about that and the exterior feel of the ball is not only critical, but it's also very easily identifiable.
"When I feel a football, I can feel the difference between slippery and tacky. I can feel the difference in the texture of the football of what degree it's broken in."
Belichick went on to say that determining air pressure wasn't as readily apparent as texture.
"The pressure of the footballs is a whole different story," he said. "It's much more difficult to feel or identify. So the focus of our pregame preparation for the footballs is based on texture and feel. I think Tom went into that extensively on Thursday and he obviously could go through it a lot better than I can because he obviously is the one touching them, but that's the heart of the process."
The Patriots are scheduled to play the Seattle Seahawks in the Super Bowl on Feb. 1.
ESPNBoston.com's Lee Schechter and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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