I think that's exactly it. When that story came out earlier this year, Matthews and Peppers released very strong denials. Neal's comments were more evasive:
“You might as well stop asking me questions,” Neal said. “I mean, I’m sure you saw how pissed off Peyton Manning was about somebody coming out with false accusations. So if you want to piss me off, that’s one thing. But please don’t — if you want to talk about football, let’s talk about that.”