Quarterback Tom Brady followed the lead of his coach and denied any knowledge of deflating 11 footballs in Sunday’s AFC Championship Game.

Hours after New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick said he had no knowledge of anything being done to the footballs, Brady said the same thing late Thursday afternoon as deflate-gate continued to percolate with the Super Bowl set for a week from Sunday.

In a 30-minute news conference before a media throng, Brady acknowledged the importance of “the integrity of the game.”

Like Belichick, Brady said he knew nothing until waking up Monday morning.

“I didn’t have any … I didn’t alter the ball in any way,” Brady said.

Mike Pereira, former NFL director of officiating, expects the NFL to come down harshly for what he views as a clear and intentional violation of rules by the New England Patriots.

“This is cheating. And this is something the league doesn’t want,” Pereira told CBS on Thursday. “It’s bad enough that rules get taken advantage of and you kind of work against the intent of the rule. But this is cheating. And it is something the league will deal with harshly.”

Pereira said officials would not notice footballs being deflated after inspection. But he also strongly believes there was an effort by the Patriots to side-step rules.

—The NFL will continue its practice of using equipment managers and ball attendants independent of the participating teams for the Super Bowl. Chicago Bears equipment manager Tony Medlin will be in charge of the process for this year’s game in Glendale, Ariz.

In the wake of the controversy over under-inflated balls allegedly used by the New England Patriots during their 45-7 win over the Indianapolis Colts in the AFC Championship game last Sunday, the competition committee is likely to review its policies.

—The San Francisco 49ers reportedly promoted Eric Mangini to defensive coordinator on Thursday.

Mangini, a longtime defensive coach who coached the team’s tight ends in 2014, will switch back to defense under new coach Jim Tomsula, according to reports by ESPN’s Adam Schefter and NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport.

Tomsula, promoted from defensive line coach last week to replace Jim Harbaugh, reportedly also hired Tony Sparano to coach tight ends. Sparano was the Oakland Raiders’ interim head coach in 2014. Tomsula also is expected to hire Oakland defensive coordinator Jason Tarver as linebackers coach and reportedly wants to talk to former New York Giants defensive coordinator Perry Fewell, too.

—Marshawn Lynch was fined $20,000 for grabbing his crotch after scoring a 24-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s NFC Championship game. The Seahawks running back was previously fined for a similar gesture against the Arizona Cardinals, and the hits could keep coming.

Lynch is facing a fine north of $50,000 for refusing to talk to media Sunday night after the win that sends the Seahawks back to the Super Bowl.

The NFL’s sportsmanship award will be named after late Pittsburgh Steelers founding owner and Hall of Famer Art Rooney.

Each team nominated one player during the season and those 32 finalists were narrowed to four players per conference: Carolina Panthers linebacker Thomas Davis, Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald, Minnesota Vikings linebacker Chad Greenway, Detroit Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson, Pittsburgh Steelers safety Troy Polamalu, New England Patriots wide receiver-special teamer Matthew Slater, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith and Denver Broncos defensive end DeMarcus Ware.

The winner will be announced at the NFL Honors on Jan. 31 and receive a $25,000 donation to a charity of his choice.

—Tom Benson, owner of the NFL and NBA franchises in New Orleans, announced a change in his succession plan to transfer future ownership to his wife, Gayle Benson.

The move, which eliminates the longstanding plan to put the Saints and Pelicans under the control of Tom Benson’s granddaughter, Rita Benson LeBlanc, was countered with a lawsuit filed by LeBlanc and her children on Thursday.

In addition, a Texas judge on Thursday ordered a temporary freeze on assets and money in a trust controlled by Benson. The request was made by his daughter, Renee Benson, and Judge Thomas E. Rickhoff of Bexar County signed a temporary restraining order.

In the suit, the family claims that Benson is incompetent to make decisions about the future of the franchises because of recent health issues. They also called Gayle Benson, 67, who married Tom Benson 10 years ago, a “gold-digging opportunist.”

—All three NFL International Series games at London’s Wembley Stadium next season will feature a 9:30 a.m. ET kickoff time.

The New York Jets and Miami Dolphins will play at 1:30 p.m. London time on Oct. 4, and the Bills and Jaguars will have the same kickoff time three weeks later, when daylight savings ends in the UK. The league confirmed Thursday that the third game, between the Detroit Lions and Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, Nov. 1 will kick off at 9:30 a.m. ET (2:30 p.m. UK time). Detroit rallied to beat the Atlanta Falcons in London in 2014 in a game that started at the same time.

—New Cleveland Browns offensive coordinator John DeFilippo is excited about the chance to work with Johnny Manziel, but that doesn’t mean Johnny Football has the inside track to the starting quarterback job next season.

“We’re not sure if our starting quarterback’s in the building right now or not,” DeFilippo said Thursday during an introductory news conference after he was hired by the Browns.

DeFilippo replaced Kyle Shanahan, who left after one season as the offensive coordinator. DeFilippo spent the past three seasons as the quarterbacks coach for the Oakland Raiders and tutored rookie Derek Carr last year.

—Despite Clay Matthews’ insistence that he wasn’t targeting Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson with a blind-side block during Sunday’s game, the NFL fined the Green Bay Packers linebacker $22,050 on Thursday for an illegal hit.

Matthews delivered the blow during a second-quarter interception by Packers safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix. It was one of four picks thrown by Wilson during the NFC Championship Game in CenturyLink Field. Wilson rallied the Seahawks in the fourth quarter and overtime to a 28-22 victory that sent Seattle to the Super Bowl for the second consecutive year.