Tom Brady's attorney has admitted that he did not cooperate fully with deflategate investigator Ted Wells due to privacy concerns.
The New England Patriots quarterback is fighting a four-game ban after Wells concluded that he was probably aware that balls were under-inflated during the AFC championship match last year.
Brady sued the league after his ban was upheld, but judge Richard Berman brought both sides to the table for settlement talks.
During these talks, Jeffrey Kessler, Brady's attorney, admitted that he should have co-operated differently with Wells, but dismissed the 37-year-old's destruction of his mobile phone just before his meeting with Wells as meaningless.
Kessle said: "He gets phones all the time. Whenever he gets one, he gives [the old one] to his assistant and says, 'Get rid of the phone.'"
There is set to be an extra meeting on August 19.
