Less than 48 hours after the Jets suspended strength and conditioning coach Sal Alosi without pay for the rest of the regular season and playoffs and also fined him $25,000 for his sideline tripping of Miami player Nolan Carroll late in the third quarter of Sunday's 10-6 loss to the Dolphins, the club suspended Alosi indefinitely pending further review.
"Over the last day as we continued our investigation, we discovered some new information," general manager Mike Tannenbaum said this afternoon in a conference call with reporters. "The players at the Miami game were instructed by Sal to stand where they were, to force the gunner in the game to run around them."
Tannenbaum, who is in Dallas with Jets owner Woody Johnson, shared the Jets' additional findings with league officials today.
"Once we got this new information, we actually met with the Commissioner [Roger Goodell] and [vice president of football operations] Ray Anderson this morning. They support this initial decision that we presented to them, but the league is going to look into this as well, as they should," said Tannenbaum. "Once we get all the information, we'll make a final determination, but based on this information, Sal has been suspended indefinitely."
The Jets carefully reviewed game video from Sunday and then sat down with the players who appeared to be standing in a wall-like formation with Alosi.
"It looked to me that it was unusual for them to be standing that way and then on Tuesday we talked to the players involved and that's when we were told they were asked to stand there by Sal," Tannenbaum said. "They were instructed by Sal throughout the game, but specifically when Miami was punting, they were asked to stand there by him."
Alosi, who is in his eighth season with the Jets and fourth as the head strength coach, was held in high regard within the organization before Sunday's incident.
"I'm really disappointed. Sal has done a lot of good things as strength and conditioning coach, he's done a lot of good things for the organization, but I'm very disappointed with what's happened," said Tannenbaum. "When you take these steps, it's not without careful thought. We're going to leave it at this stage until we can have a full and complete review of the facts. Then once Rex, Woody and I get in a room, we'll go from there."
The Jets suspended Alosi indefinitely, but they could opt to terminate his services.
"All options are certainly on the table," said the Jets GM. "We're going to complete the review, get all the information. Mike Westhoff was not involved, Rex Ryan is not involved, but we just want to be thorough and then make the best decision."
