Attorneys for former New England Patriots player Aaron Hernandez don't want jurors at his upcoming double murder trial to hear about his tattoos or text messages he sent to his sports agent.

Hernandez is charged with killing 29-year-old Daniel de Abreu and 28-year-old Safiro Furtado in 2012. He has pleaded not guilty. The trial is scheduled to start in February.

Prosecutors said at a hearing Tuesday that tattoos Hernandez had done soon after the men were killed link him to the slayings. They say text messages he sent to Brian Murphy also link him to the crime.

The defense says the tattoos are irrelevant and the texts are protected by attorney-client privilege.

The judge did not rule.

Hernandez is serving a life sentence for the 2013 shooting death of Odin Lloyd, the boyfriend of his fiancee's sister.