Roger Goodell spoke publicly for the first time about Aaron Hernandez's murder charge this week.

"It's a black eye," Goodell said. "You never want to see your players involved with anything off the field or criminal in any nature, and this is deeply troubling ... to see this kind of behavior. It is something we are not proud of.

"The Patriots obviously reacted very quickly and decisively, and now it's up to Aaron ... and he's going to be facing the criminal process," Goodell went on. "In the meantime, what we have to do is do everything we can to help our young people make the right decisions and evaluate our people when they're coming into the league. And make sure to do everything to avoid these kind of situations."