PALM BEACH, Fla. — Speaking with reporters at length about Spygate, New England coach Bill Belichick said Tuesday a misunderstanding got him into this mess, the Patriots have become more "efficient" because of it and that he isn't worried what a former team employee might say to further incriminate the team.

Belichick and Patriots owner Robert Kraft reportedly apologized for Spygate when they spoke to owners during Tuesday's session.

The NFL has been trying to arrange a meeting with former New England videotape employee Matt Walsh, who vaguely has implied he might have evidence that would implicate the Patriots. The Boston Herald reported earlier this year that New England taped St. Louis' walk-through the day before the 2002 Super Bowl.

"I don't really know what he does have to say," Belichick said, adding he had "minimal involvement" with Walsh when he was a team employee. "Whatever the allegations are, I'm confident that's not true. I've never seen a tape of another team's practice in 34 years of coaching, and certainly not that one. It totally came out of right field to me."

The NFL investigated the Patriots and punished them last September after they were found to have taped the Jets' defensive signals when the teams played last season. New England had to pay a fine and forfeit a first-round draft choice.

Belichick said he violated the rule because he didn't properly understand it: "The way the rule is written, I interpreted it as you couldn't use it during the game, that current game, which was never done. I've never done that. I paid the price for that mistake. It was my mistake."

Meanwhile, the opportunity for teams to steal defensive hand signals will be reduced next season because the NFL on Tuesday voted to allow a defensive team to have one player on the field with a speaker in his helmet to relay signals from coaches. Quarterbacks have been able to do that since 1994.

A vote on the Kansas City Chiefs' proposal to make it illegal for hair to cover a players' nameplate or number was tabled until the owners meeting in May.

Among the proposals that will be addressed today: allowing wild-card teams with superior records to be seeded ahead of division winners; allowing teams who win the coin toss to receive the ball to open the second half if they choose; and eliminating the force-out rule by requiring players to have two feet in bounds.

Broncos' Cutler rips troubled Marshall

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Jay Cutler has had it with all the drama and headlines surrounding top target Brandon Marshall.

In his first offseason interview, the Denver quarterback called out his No. 1 receiver and fellow third-year star who suffered a gash on his right forearm while horsing around last month.

"Yeah, he's not my favorite person right now," Cutler said. "I mean, I support him, but it's always something with him right now. ... He knows he's running out of chances. This wasn't like his DUI and other stuff he's had. It was an accident, but still, things like that can't happen."

Note

• Cincinnati Bengals WR Chris Henry was ticketed for driving with expired Kentucky license plates. He appeared in Hamilton County Municipal Court and paid $149, according to court records. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell suspended the 24-year-old for the first half of last season for repeatedly violating the league's conduct policy. Henry was arrested four times during a 14-month span.