Patriots have little to say about Riley Cooper

Tim Tebow smiled and said nothing. The New England Patriots quarterback wasn't going to discuss the imbroglio involving a certain Eagles wide receiver, even if that Eagle was his former roommate at Florida, even if the two were close enough to pillow-fight each other in the apartment they shared.

Coach Bill Belichick passed, too. Running back LeGarrette Blount didn't want to touch the issue.

The Patriots practiced Tuesday with the Eagles, as they will for the next two days leading up to the teams' preseason game Friday. The start of joint practices coincided with the return of Riley Cooper, who had been on a leave of absence from the Eagles after a video surfaced showing him using a racial slur at a concert.

Tebow and Cooper were roommates at Florida. Former teammate Will Hill told reporters last year that he once went to their apartment when they were having a pillow fight. Yet the most illuminating comment by Tebow on Tuesday was: "We're friends. We've been close for a long time."

The Patriots have had their own public relations issues. Tight end Aaron Hernandez was charged with murder before the season, and the team cut all ties with him. The newly signed Tebow brings a much different media distraction. And so Tuesday was an exercise in deflection, as has become typical under Belichick.

The coach would not elaborate on Cooper, even indirectly. The 25-year-old receiver was named explicitly just once during Belichick's news conference, when a reporter asked whether he had to say anything to his defensive backs about Cooper.

"No," Belichick said.

A different reporter, taking an indirect approach, asked him about the biggest challenge Chip Kelly may face this year.

"I don't know," Belichick said. "I am really just trying to coach my team. I don't think I have too much comment on what anybody else is doing."

Blount declined to comment on his own relationship with Kelly, who coached the running back at Oregon. Blount was suspended by Kelly after he punched an opposing player following Kelly's first game as the Ducks' head coach.

The Patriots did talk about Kelly, but only in general terms. Belichick said he respects him. Quarterback Tom Brady said he has followed Kelly's career at Oregon.

"I've seen his teams play for a long time at Oregon, and they've been exceptional," Brady said. "So I'm sure it'll be no different."

Tebow, who will turn 26 next Wednesday, hardly said anything about anything. His silent smile was in response to a reporter who asked whether Tebow was surprised that such a slur had come from a friend. He did not answer that, nor did he directly answer whether the two had talked in the last few days.

"No, I'm just going to keep our relationship private, and I think that's where it needs to be," Tebow said.

He did add this: "But I was definitely praying for him."