Wide receiver Aaron Dobson was publicly exonerated of accusations that he was benched by the New England Patriots because of a verbal disagreement with offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels.

However, head coach Bill Belichick didn’t let Dobson off the hook entirely, stating that his performance is the only reason he isn’t seeing much time in the Patriots’ poorly performing offense.

“In my year and a half with Aaron Dobson, he has always been respectful to me and to the rest of the coaching staff,” Belichick said in a statement released by the team Friday. “He has never once been argumentative or confrontational. The suggestion and reporting that his playing time was in any way the result of a ‘loud disagreement’ with a coach is completely false.”

Dobson was inactive Monday for the Patriots’ second loss of the season at Kansas City. Only three wide receivers were active for the game. Dobson was also in active Week 1 and Week 3.

Asked directly if there was an incident between McDaniels and Dobson, Belichick said “You know, no, and I’ll have a comment on that later.” The team statement followed one hour later.

Belichick did not commit to activating Dobson Sunday night against the Bengals.

“We’ll do what we think is best for the game, just like we always do,” he said.

Dobson was third among Patriots wide receivers in 2013, when he caught 37 passes for 519 yards and four touchdowns as a rookie.

He has one reception for 13 yards, and Danny Amendola has only three receptions for 16 yards. Four of Amendola’s receptions have been called back due to penalty.