Wade Phillips denied comments Thursday attributed to him that said the Dallas Cowboys' coach believes the New England Patriots spying scandal earlier this season tainted the team's three Super Bowl titles.
Phillips and the Cowboys will be facing the Patriots this Sunday.
"The league, the Patriots, everybody, they just want this Spygate thing to go away," HBO's Peter King said on the latest episode of "Inside The NFL" on Wednesday. "But Wade Phillips this week told me something that I think a lot of coaches around the league and a lot of people around the league are still thinking, and that is, 'Hey, New England was caught cheating, and it is a black mark on their success.' "
Phillips said he didn't know of King's comments until a reporter told him.
"No, I didn't say that at all," Phillips told the Dallas Morning News after Thursday's practice. "I think they would have won no matter what. I don't know. I have no idea if it even helped them. But they were a great football team, well coached. I don't see any way that they wouldn't have won what they did. I don't think that at all. I don't know why Peter would say that."
Despite Phillips' denials, an HBO spokesperson said King stands by his report.
The NFL fined Patriots coach Bill Belichick $500,000 and the team was fined $250,000 plus ordered to forfeit a 2008 draft pick after league officials determined the club had used a camera to steal signals during a Week 1 win over the New York Jets.
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