Patriots HC Bill Belichick 'can’t comment' on Brian Flores lawsuit

One of the noteworthy aspects of the much-publicized lawsuit filed by former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores this past winter involved a claim that New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick mistakenly texted Flores thinking he was Brian Daboll to congratulate him on receiving the New York Giants head coaching job before Flores was set to meet with the Giants. The suggestion is that the Giants had already decided to hire Daboll and only met with Flores to comply with the Rooney Rule, which says that franchises must speak with minority candidates for positions such as head coach. 

Flores later said that Belichick "influenced" the Giants in their hiring of Daboll. Per Darryl Slater of NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, Giants co-owner John Mara told reporters Sunday he has no plans to settle the lawsuit and also strongly denied any wrongdoing. Belichick had less to say about the subject on Monday. 

"Can’t comment on it," Belichick responded to questions about the lawsuit and his alleged communication with the Giants, according to Charean Williams of Pro Football Talk. 

"I haven’t spoken or communicated with Bill since we played [the Patriots] in the preseason last summer," Mara said Sunday. "He didn’t speak to anybody in our organization [during the coaching search]."

While the Giants hired Daboll, Flores ultimately accepted a job as senior defensive assistant and linebackers coach with the Pittsburgh Steelers.