Robert Kraft, Patriots owner, regrets putting faith in NFL in Deflategate

New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft says he was wrong to trust the NFL in the deflated footballs case and that he regrets not appealing the penalties against the team.

Appearing at team headquarters Wednesday in Foxborough, Mass., a day after NFL commissioner Roger Goodell upheld a four-game suspension of Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, Kraft angrily targeted the league for its handling of the case.

Kraft said that the league's claim that Brady trashed his cellphone was just the latest in a series of statements and leaks designed to impugn the integrity of Brady and the team.

Kraft said, "I have come to the conclusion that this was never about doing what was fair and just."

Brady was suspended four games and the team was docked $1 million US and two draft picks after the league found improperly inflated footballs were used in the AFC championship game against the Indianapolis Colts.

Kraft said he expected Brady's suspension to be reduced on appeal, and repeated the team's claim that the league failed to prove its case.

"Six months removed from the AFC championship game, the league still has no hard evidence of anybody doing anything to tamper with the PSI levels of footballs," Kraft said. "I was willing to take the harshest penalty in the history of the NFL for an alleged violation of ball tampering because I hoped it would exonerate Tom."

Meanwhile, Patriots coach Bill Belichick says Brady's suspension and the saga surrounding deflated footballs won't alter his team's preparation for the season.

Belichick deflected all questions about the scandal known as "Deflategate" on Wednesday. Instead of offering his take, Belichick referred to statements about the issue from Kraft as his team opened training camp.

When asked whether backup quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo would get more practice in camp, Belichick replied by saying: "We practice everybody."

Belichick says every player needs to re-establish his level of performance.

Belichick says when asked whether he has spoken to Brady that he talks to the team every day.

He says the team is focused now on getting the team ready for the 2015 season.

Below are highlights of Kraft's statement:

The decision handed down by the league yesterday is unfathomable to me. It is routine for discipline in the NFL to be reduced upon appeal. Six months removed from the AFC championship game, the league still has no hard evidence of anybody doing anything to tamper with the psi level of footballs.

I continue to believe and unequivocally support Tom Brady.

The league's handling of this entire process has been extremely frustrating and disconcerting. I will never understand why an initial erroneous report regarding the psi level of footballs leaked by a source from the NFL a few days after the AFC championship game was never corrected by those who had the correct information.

Tom Brady is a person of great integrity and is a great ambassador of the game, both on and off the field.

Yet, for reasons that I cannot comprehend, there are those in the league office who are more determined to prove that they were right rather than admit any culpability of their own or take any responsibility for the initiation of a process and ensuing investigation that was flawed.

I acted in good faith and was optimistic that by taking the actions I took, the league would have what they wanted. I was willing to accept the harshest penalty in the history of the NFL for an alleged ball violation because I believed it would help exonerate Tom.

Given the facts, evidence and laws of science that underscore this entire situation, it is completely incomprehensible to me that the league continues to take steps to disparage one of its all-time great players and a man for whom I have the utmost respect.