The Sports Xchange

On a day when a federal judge ordered the sides in Tom Brady’s lawsuit against the NFL to tone down their rhetoric, New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick remained mum when pressed about his thoughts on the “Deflategate” drama Thursday.

Asked when he thought it might be appropriate to comment on the Brady situation, Belichick deferred to owner Robert Kraft’s request on Wednesday that members of the organization not speak publicly on the matter.

“I think Robert addressed that yesterday,” Belichick said. “You can go back and read the transcript. I think you can read what he said and that’s what we’re going to do.”

But does Belichick agree with everything Kraft said?

“You go back and read the transcript of what Robert said, he advised everybody in the organization not to talk about it, and so we’re not talking about it,” Belichick maintained. “You can go back and read that yourself. It’s in the transcript.”

Belichick repeatedly referenced focusing on Thursday’s practice and “preparing for today.”

If the Patriots’ coach shed any light on Thursday, it was in response to a question about backup quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo’s development as he begins his second training camp. Currently slated to start the first four games of the season pending an unlikely reversal of Brady’s suspension, Garoppolo will see far more time with the first team offense.

“He’s made a lot of progress, like probably most all players make in their first year,” Belichick said. “Now we’re into a second year and we’ll see where that continues and where we’re able to pick up on the learning from last year, and that goes for all of our second year players.

“It’s different being out there in pads, different being out there in a competitive situation, which we haven’t gotten to yet but that will be coming shortly.”