This wasn't about Spygate, and this wasn't about the Jets and the Patriots. Until now.
Jets special teams coach Mike Westhoff went on ESPN 1000 in Chicago and accused the Patriots of instituting the same tactics employed by the Jets on Sunday, according to ProFootballTalk.com.
"A number of teams do it," Westhoff said. "There is a pretty good team up north that lines their whole defense up when they do it, so it's something that just kind of happened."
Westhoff wouldn't say the Patriots were necessarily cheating, but he explained in great detail what the Patriots were doing.
"Well, if you watch them — their defense when the opponent's punt team is out there — they're up there pretty close to the line so it looks like they are trying to do it. Now are they doing anything illegal? Are they tripping anybody? Heck no. I'm not saying that. That's not the point. But, yeah, they're lined up there. Is it making a difference? I don't know. I really don't know, because to tell you the truth, before this happened, I never really looked at anybody's sideline in all my years."
If Westhoff doesn't think the Patriots are tripping anybody, and if he doesn't know if it gives the Pats an edge, then he probably should have kept those comments to himself. (Plus, considering Steve Weatherford turned in one of the worst kicks in history in New England two weeks ago, Westhoff is probably more than a little sore when it comes to the Patriots.)
Sal Alosi, the guilty strength coach who stuck his knee into Nolan Carroll, saw his suspension increased from four games to an indefinite time period on Wednesday, after general manager Mike Tannenbaum said new evidence had come to light. That evidence was that Alosi instructed the players to line up on the sideline to create a wall.
Westhoff insisted Wednesday that he did not give the order to Alosi.
Anyone who watched Hard Knocks before the season knows that Westhoff isn't exactly a man who spends his time mulling around and regretting anything (his most memorable line of the series might have been, "Redskins? [Expletive] them."). But in throwing the Patriots into his own internal mess, he didn't make the Jets or himself look too good or too innocent in this situation.
