Next opponents weigh in on issue
SAN DIEGO - A Boston sportswriter approached Chargers defensive end Jacques Cesaire last night at the team's practice facility, and Cesaire couldn't help himself. He jokingly asked the reporter if he was spying for the Patriots.
For some of their opponents, the Patriots have become a punch line amid allegations they used video cameras to spy last Sunday on the Jets and last year on the Packers.
"It's just good that it happened before we played them, obviously," Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson said as his team prepared to face the Patriots Sunday night at Gillette Stadium.
The reaction in NFL cities has been particularly intense since the Patriots have won three of the last six Super Bowls.
"Honestly, I guess I was real surprised," Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers said. "It's not every day you hear about something like that. Whether it's common or not, you hope not."
Coach Norv Turner said the Chargers will take their standard precautions Sunday in Foxborough to defend against the Patriots stealing signals.
"I've been coaching in this league long enough where there's very, very little that would surprise me," he said. "It wouldn't surprise me if it came out later that someone else had tried to do it somewhere along the way."
Why?
"I know there are a lot of different teams that have tried to steal signals," Turner said.
Turner said he would be angry if an opponent stole his team's signals, but he declined to say how severely a cheating team should be disciplined.
Turner predicted, however, that the scandal would compel NFL owners to allow at least one defensive player on each team next season to begin wearing a microphone in his helmet. He said the league's Competition Committee narrowly rejected instituting the policy this season.
"I would expect it to pass at the next [owners'] meeting," Turner said.
Several other Chargers seemed to enjoy the Patriots stewing in negative publicity.
"You can't put anything past anybody," said Pro Bowl tight end Antonio Gates.
Yet Gates and a few other San Diego players said they should focus primarily on beating the Patriots on the field, not in the media.
"Those guys up [at NFL headquarters] in New York will police the league," safety Marlon McCree said. "We just need to worry about stopping Randy Moss and Tom Brady and Donté Stallworth."
