The New England Patriots are expected to be disciplined for acknowledged game-day video violations in Cincinnati, league sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Saturday.
The discipline from the league is likely to come in the next two weeks, but not all security reports are back to the NFL yet, sources told Schefter.
The Patriots admitted that their production crew inappropriately filmed the field and sideline during a Dec. 8 game between the Cincinnati Bengals and Cleveland Browns and have accepted full responsibility.
The crew was credentialed by the Browns to shoot video for a Patriots web series called “Do Your Job,” but the Patriots did not inform the Bengals or the NFL, which they called an “unintended oversight.”
“The sole purpose of the filming was to provide an illustration of an advance scout at work on the road,” a Patriots statement said at the time. “There was no intention of using footage for any other purpose.”
The Patriots also said the production crew, which included independent contractors who shot the video, is not part of New England’s football operation.
In 2007, the Patriots were punished by the NFL for videotaping the New York Jets‘ defensive playcalls on the sideline during a 2007 game at Giants Stadium won by New England 38-14. The Patriots were forced to forfeit their first-round draft pick in 2008, coach Bill Belichick was fined the maximum amount of $500,000 and the Patriots were ordered to pay $250,000 for the scandal, which was dubbed “Spygate” by the media.
