Bill Belichick was happy to conjure just about every excuse for the 1-12 Cincinnati Bengals ahead of their matchup with the New England Patriots in Week 15. They are a good team, he said. And he went on for 345 words during his opening statement in his Wednesday press conference to explain just how misunderstood the Bengals are.

When it came to talking about that Cincy team, Belichick was an open book. But there was a number of topics that were off limits this week, most notably Spygate 2.0. The Patriots production team was caught recording the Bengals’ sideline in Week 14 in the press box in Cleveland. New England issued a lengthy statement to admit they broke NFL rules but also claimed they did so by accident. The footage was for a documentary series about a scout — and it was not for the team’s use. Either way, it’s a violation.

If that hadn’t taken over the conversation, the Patriots offense would be the main topic of discussion. The unit looked in improved in a Week 14 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs — but it has a long way to go if they’re going to win another Super Bowl, which is the unfair bar set in this region.

With that in mind, here’s what Bill Belichick wouldn’t say this week.

About that scout that was in the press box … why didn’t he stop the illegal videotaping?

What he said: “He was doing his job. That’s what he was doing, he was doing his job. Like we all tried to do. That’s what the football team, the football staff and the coaching staff did last week was try to do their job for Kansas City, and then Cincinnati, and then Buffalo next week and that’s it.”

What we think he’s thinking: The scout was busy watching the game, and the production team was filming in a different part of the press box. It’s not the scout’s job to babysit a producer. It’s their job to know the NFL rules, which they broke. And if the Patriots’ story is true, that producer made a tremendously ignorant mistake. The producer’s alibi, however, is comically similar to the one the Patriots used to use during Spygate — which only makes it worse for New England.