Microsoft last week defended its five-year deal with the National Football League (NFL) after the coach of the New England Patriots trashed the company’s tablet.

“This week Surface has been at the center of the debate on the role of technology in the NFL, with different opinions shared from coaches and players,” said Yusuf Mehdi, a Microsoft marketing executive in the Windows and Devices Group, in a post to a company blog Friday.

That “debate,” as Mehdi put it, was one-sided until his defense appeared. Earlier last week, sports and technology reporters and bloggers wrote extensively when Patriots’ head coach Bill Belichick dismissed the Surface.

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