HOUSTON -- Houston defensive end Antonio Smith apologized Monday for using the word "spying" about New England, but didnt exactly back down from the accusations he made after the Texans loss to the Patriots. Troy Hudson Jersey . On Sunday after Houstons 34-31 loss, Smith told reporters that the Texans had some new wrinkles in their defence and it was "miraculous" how the Patriots changed their offence to key on the defence. He said then: "Either teams are spying on us or scouting us. I dont know what it is." On Monday, he said that he thought reporters in Houston knew him well enough to know that he could be joking and still be curious about something like this at the same time. "Im sorry I said the word spying because of a prior engagement of them being caught spying before," he said. The NFL fined New England coach Bill Belichick $500,000 and the team $250,000 and took away a first-round pick in the 2008 draft for videotaping New York Jets signals during a game on Sept. 9, 2007. Belichick said he thought that was allowed and apologized for what he said was a mistake in his interpretation of the rule prohibiting it. Belichick was asked on a conference call Monday morning if he saw Smiths comments. "Yeah, I saw them," he said. "I dont have any comment on them. I think thats a league matter." Houston coach Gary Kubiak also was questioned about what Smith said and refused to address them directly. "I have the utmost respect for their organization, their players, their coaches, their head coach and the standard that theyve been setting for a long, long time in this league," he said. "So ... they did a great job yesterday and have been doing it a long time." The loss extended Houstons franchise-record skid to 10 games. The Texans were up 17-7 at halftime before New England rallied for the win. Smith said Monday that he was surprised his comments caused such a stir and wondered why no one had a sense of humour about what he said. "Though it may be something I was curious about that kind of didnt seem right," he said. "Like how all of a sudden the change here? It wasnt a serious matter to where I was thinking: Aw man, theyre spying on us. Theyre cheating. Things like that to the point where it gets to a big story about me accusing them of cheating. Its me being me, being funny." Houston will try to end its skid Thursday night at Jacksonville. Wally Szczerbiak Jersey . - Young and old. Stitched Timberwolves Jerseys . Dallas also Monday recalled defenceman Aaron Rome from his conditioning assignment with the Texas Stars of the American Hockey League and assigned goaltender Jack Campbell to the AHL squad.VERONA, Italy -- Hellas Verona capitalized on a defensive error to beat newly promoted Palermo 2-1 on Monday and pick up its first win of the Serie A season. Palermo took the lead in the 18th minute when Verona goalkeeper Rafael could only parry Francesco Bolzonis effort from Eros Pisanos cross and Franco Vazquez fired in the rebound from close range. Verona levelled shortly before halftime after Sinisa Anddelkovic hauled down Luca Toni in the area and the former Palermo forward stepped up to fire the resulting penalty into the bottom left corner. Malik Sealy Jersey. A mix-up between Pisano and his goalkeeper Stefano Sorrentino saw Juanito Gomez bundle what was to prove the winner into the empty net, although the final touch came off the Palermo defender. Both sides had started the season with draws. ' ' '
HOUSTON -- Houston defensive end Antonio Smith apologized Monday for using the word "spying" about New England, but didnt exactly back down from the accusations he made after the Texans loss to the Patriots. Troy Hudson Jersey . On Sunday after Houstons 34-31 loss, Smith told reporters that the Texans had some new wrinkles in their defence and it was "miraculous" how the Patriots changed their offence to key on the defence. He said then: "Either teams are spying on us or scouting us. I dont know what it is." On Monday, he said that he thought reporters in Houston knew him well enough to know that he could be joking and still be curious about something like this at the same time. "Im sorry I said the word spying because of a prior engagement of them being caught spying before," he said. The NFL fined New England coach Bill Belichick $500,000 and the team $250,000 and took away a first-round pick in the 2008 draft for videotaping New York Jets signals during a game on Sept. 9, 2007. Belichick said he thought that was allowed and apologized for what he said was a mistake in his interpretation of the rule prohibiting it. Belichick was asked on a conference call Monday morning if he saw Smiths comments. "Yeah, I saw them," he said. "I dont have any comment on them. I think thats a league matter." Houston coach Gary Kubiak also was questioned about what Smith said and refused to address them directly. "I have the utmost respect for their organization, their players, their coaches, their head coach and the standard that theyve been setting for a long, long time in this league," he said. "So ... they did a great job yesterday and have been doing it a long time." The loss extended Houstons franchise-record skid to 10 games. The Texans were up 17-7 at halftime before New England rallied for the win. Smith said Monday that he was surprised his comments caused such a stir and wondered why no one had a sense of humour about what he said. "Though it may be something I was curious about that kind of didnt seem right," he said. "Like how all of a sudden the change here? It wasnt a serious matter to where I was thinking: Aw man, theyre spying on us. Theyre cheating. Things like that to the point where it gets to a big story about me accusing them of cheating. Its me being me, being funny." Houston will try to end its skid Thursday night at Jacksonville. Wally Szczerbiak Jersey . - Young and old. Stitched Timberwolves Jerseys . Dallas also Monday recalled defenceman Aaron Rome from his conditioning assignment with the Texas Stars of the American Hockey League and assigned goaltender Jack Campbell to the AHL squad.VERONA, Italy -- Hellas Verona capitalized on a defensive error to beat newly promoted Palermo 2-1 on Monday and pick up its first win of the Serie A season. Palermo took the lead in the 18th minute when Verona goalkeeper Rafael could only parry Francesco Bolzonis effort from Eros Pisanos cross and Franco Vazquez fired in the rebound from close range. Verona levelled shortly before halftime after Sinisa Anddelkovic hauled down Luca Toni in the area and the former Palermo forward stepped up to fire the resulting penalty into the bottom left corner. Malik Sealy Jersey. A mix-up between Pisano and his goalkeeper Stefano Sorrentino saw Juanito Gomez bundle what was to prove the winner into the empty net, although the final touch came off the Palermo defender. Both sides had started the season with draws. ' ' '
