Darrelle Revis says the Patriots have 'a history of doing stuff'

Three months after he won a Super Bowl in his lone year in New England, Darrelle Revis is going after his old team.

Revis, who spurned the Patriots in free agency to return to the New York Jets, gave his first extended take on Deflategate, speaking with the New York Daily News' Manish Mehta Wednesday.

He criticized the Patriots and their "history of doing stuff," saying:

"Everybody's blowing it up because it is Tom Brady. I understand that. But if [the NFL] feels he did the crime, or he did something and they want to penalize them, then that's that. [The Patriots] have a history of doing stuff. You can't hide that. ... Tom was there when they did that stuff in the past."

In 2007, when Revis was a rookie with the Jets, the Patriots were caught videotaping the Jets' defensive coaches' signals. Revis believes Spygate and the Patriots' dubious history can't be ignored. He told Mehta:

"New England's been doing stuff in the past and getting in trouble. When stuff repeatedly happens, then that's it. I don't know what else to tell you. Stuff repeatedly happened through the years. You got SpyGate, you got this and that and everything else. Obviously in those situations in the past, they had the evidence. So they did what they needed to do."

Revis isn't the only one who has brought up the Patriots' recent history. NFL's executive vice president of football operations, Troy Vincent, acknowledged the NFL considered the Patriot's prior violation of league rules - such as Spygate - when determining their Deflategate punishments for the club. Here's what he wrote in a letter explaining the punishment:

"Here, there are several factors that merit strong consideration in assessing discipline. The first is the club's prior record. In 2007 the club and several individuals were sanctioned for videotaping signals of opposing defensive coaches in violation of the Constitution and Bylaws. Under the Integrity of the Game Policy, this prior violation of competitive rules was properly considered in determining the discipline in this case."

The Patriots, who recently chose not to appeal their suspensions, were docked a 2016 first-round draft pick, a 2017 fourth-round draft pick, and were given a $1 million fine. The NFL also suspended Brady for four games. Brady, however, is appealing his suspension.