Yep, blame on the underlings.
"...The investigators' report on what came to be called Deflate-Gate faulted Jim McNally, a Patriots locker room attendant, and John Jastremski, an equipment assistant, for an apparent effort to let air out of game balls for the AFC championship game in January. .."
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/deflate-gate-patriots-probably-deflated-footballs-investigation-finds-n354791
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