With the lidless red eye of the media now focusing on ten-day-old evidence of then-fresh cheating allegations regarding the Patriots, it would be easy to shrug at talk of possible rules violations relating to the use of players from the injured reserve list in practice.

But we’ve gotten some feedback on the situation, unsolicited, from someone not in the media.  Instead, a high-level exec with a team other than the Patriots has shared some opinions about the differences between the videotaping of defensive coaching signals and the practice of practicing with players who have been placed on IR.

Here’s the full text of the message that we received:

“I honestly feel like the IR issue is a way bigger issue than taping signals.  I always felt that was overblown because everyone was doing it in some way (i.e. with a scout in the press box, etc).  However, the IR thing is huge.  In terms of getting players ready to play for the future, it’s invaluable.  You can stash players on the IR, protect them from waivers, and get them to practice, develop and improve.  Plus it allows you to rest your veterans during practice.  In terms of competitiveness, from an overall team standpoint, that’s a much bigger advantage than taping signals. 

“The fact that the Commish wouldn’t take any further action, to me, is incredible.  It’s a totally separate deal and MUCH more valuable than taping signals, in my opinion.”

For now, the evidence regarding this practice by the Patriots is limited.  But at a time when Matt Walsh’s credibility remains suspect (except when he says that there was no videotape of the Rams’ walk-through prior to Super Bowl XXXVI), the fact that former NFL player Ross Tucker has spoken out about his first-hand experiences in this regard makes us wonder whether folks in the league office agree with the assessment that our source provided and, if so, whether the matter will be pursued.

It’s possible that the Patriots weren’t doing it extensively.  It’s possible that other teams are doing it as well.  But if it is that big of a deal and if it’s happening in one or more NFL cities without detection or correction, then it needs to be explored.