LOS ANGELES — New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick said Tuesday he had no involvement with a video crew caught filming footage of the Cincinnati Bengals' sideline last weekend.

The Patriots came under scrutiny on Monday after it emerged a camera crew from the Super Bowl champions was found improperly filming the Bengals in their NFL game at Cleveland on Sunday.

The incident has revived memories of the 2007 "Spygate" scandal, when Belichick was fined $500,000 after the Patriots were caught filming footage of the Green Bay Packers and New York Jets.

The Patriots, who face the Bengals next Sunday, issued a statement late Monday saying the three-person video crew had been sent to Cleveland on Sunday to obtain footage for a behind-the-scenes feature about team scouts.

The Patriots admitted the crew had filmed "inappropriate" footage from the press box but denied any deliberate wrongdoing.

"The sole purpose of the filming was to provide an illustration of an advance scout at work on the road," the Patriots said, adding that the crew had immediately turned over all footage to the league.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Belichick said he "didn't have anything at all to do with this" following the camera crew revelation.

Belichick added that since "Spygate" erupted, the team had always erred on the side of caution.

"We're competitive and we'll try to be competitive in every area," Belichick said. "But we don't knowingly, intentionally want to do anything that's across the line.

"Since (Spygate) happened, I'd say we've tried to keep a good distance behind the line and not maybe take it as far as we would might have in the past. But it's never really fundamentally changed there." — AFP