Pats-Jets pregame: Video surfaces of N.E. punt ‘wall'

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By Tom E. Curran
CSNNE.com

FOXBORO - Whoa, wild coincidence! It comes to light today that the Patriots -- the New England Patriots -- have engaged in sideline shenanigans aimed at upsetting opposing coverage. Just like, ya know, the Jets.
Jay Glazer of FOX Sports presented video evidence on the FOX pregame show of the Patriots doing something similar during the Week 2 game between the Jets and Patriots. According to Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com, "Though they werent standing shoulder to shoulder and toe to toe like Sal Alosi and his North Jersey mob, six or seven Pats were up on the edge of the sideline, and one of them appears to try to trip the gunner."Glazer added that the Jets learned of the manuever from a former Patriots practice squad player who signed with the Jets. That could be either former Pats quarterback Kevin O'Connell or linebacker Shawn Crable. The Jets were fined 100,000 for Alosi's act and for special teams coach Mike Westhoff accusing the Patriots of similar deeds. "A number of teams do it," Westhoff said on Chicago radio in mid-December. "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 . . . 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."It's not a huge leap of reason to presume the Jets were - in some way - involved in making sure the video (conclusive or not) saw the light of day.

Tom E. Curran can be reached at tcurran@comcastsportsnet.com. Follow Tom on Twitter at http:twitter.comtomecurran

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