The Sports Xchange

The New England Patriots issued their online rebuttal, wellsreportcontext.com, with detailed responses to the 243-page Wells Report on Thursday, and it can be summed up thusly: We can explain everything.

In response to several of the evidentiary points raised by investigator Ted Wells in the Deflategate controversy, the Patriots’ legal team of Morgan, Lewis, Young and Associates said quarterback Tom Brady had the best intentions in mind when communication increased with equipment assistant John Jastremski in the days after the AFC Championship game and heightened scrutiny about the inflation process.

“Mr. Brady is used to the limelight and to critics; Mr. Jastremski is not. Since Mr. Jastremski prepared the footballs, it was reasonable to expect that this media attention would focus on him,” the Patriots said Thursday. “It was also reasonable to expect that (as happened) Mr. Jastremski’s boss would question Mr. Jastremski to see what, if anything, he knew. Mr. Brady’s reaching out to Mr. Jastremski to see how he was holding up in these circumstances is not only understandable, but commendable.”

Another claim by the Patriots was that the “Deflator” nickname of equipment manager Jim McNally was a common reference to his attempt to lose weight.

“Deflate was a term they used to refer to losing weight,” the team said Thursday.

It’s the team’s opinion that Wells’ investigators lacked just cause for a second interview with McNally. Wells said he requested the interview after text messages revealed that he called himself the “deflator.”

The Patriots feed the theory of Brady’s agent, Don Yee, that Wells was targeting Brady and presuming guilt from the start of his investigation.

“Increased Brady-Jastremski communications in the days following the AFC Championship Game do not make it more likely than not that there was any wrongdoing or knowledge of wrongdoing. They are totally consistent with complete innocence. It is only speculation to conclude otherwise. Nonetheless, it forms part of the report’s stated rationale for its findings against Mr. Brady.”

Thursday’s statement also claims that McNally was in the bathroom “to relieve himself” and not reduce pressure in game balls before the AFC Championship game.