12/05 — Jets head coach Eric Mangini wasted no time addressing the reports that Shaun Ellis, his veteran DE and defensive captain, was arrested for possession of marijuana last Saturday near the team's training center in Florham Park, N.J.

"What I can tell you is that when the incident took place, Mike [Tannenbaum] and I gathered as much information as we could," Mangini said in his opening remarks at today's news conference. "We sat down with Shaun, discussed the situation with him and expressed our disappointment with what happened.

"And Shaun did what I fully expected him to do. He expressed disappointment to us, the fans, his teammates, his family and to himself. At that point we disciplined him internally. Now it's a pending legal matter."

Ellis, in a statement released by the team, stated: "I apologize to my family, the fans and the organization. As a captain, I set a poor example for my teammates as well as all NFL players. Although this is a pending legal matter, I understand that I have to be responsible for my actions."

When Mangini opened the news conference up to questions, some reporters pressed him on what the discipline was, why it wasn't made public immediately, why the process doesn't appear to be transparent. Mangini calmly but strongly explained the organization's decisions in this matter and its approach in general to such situations.

"We went through it, discussed it, discussed it organizationally," he said, adding in response to another questions, "We've taken internal action and I feel comfortable with the action we've taken. We've discussed it with Woody [Jets owner Woody Johnson]. Our approach to personal conduct hasn't changed one bit.

"I can tell you we've been consistent with how we've acted over time. We're very consistent with the type of people we bring in. Our approach hasn't changed. There were disciplinary actions taken. They are internal. I hope you can respect that."

Mangini also said his players know how seriously he and the organization take these matters.

"This isn't something that's just addressed during training camp," he said. "It's addressed during the season, during the course of the off-season. Every situation is different. There's not one cookie-cutter way to handle each one. It's taken seriously. They understand that and they realize that."

He said the team's approach to such situations "has been very consistent over time."

Mangini said Ellis will play Sunday at San Francisco. He will also continue to act as one of the Jets' two defensive captains and six team captains.

As for possibly sanctions from the NFL, he said: "The league goes through a process of looking into any incident. They'll act accordingly at whatever point they decide to act. ... Really, there's no set timeline on these things. I'm sure they'll look at it, research it, do their due diligence. Whatever timeline they decide is when it'll happen."