Alosi's action inexcusable but not uncommon

There's no glossing over what Jets strength and conditioning coach Sal Alosi did on the sideline in the third quarter of Sunday's 10-6 loss to the Dolphins. By sticking out his left knee and causing Nolan Carroll to trip and fall, he committed an inexcusable act, and the punishment handed down Monday was justified.

The Jets suspended Alosi without pay for the remainder of the season and fined him $25,000. It was a strong message for an action that even Alosi was unable to adequately explain Monday, saying he couldn't "give a logical explanation for an illogical act."

Was firing him the way to go, as many fans and some in the media demanded? I don't believe so; Alosi reacted in the heat of the moment, made a major mistake and was sufficiently punished.

Besides, as I discovered, Alosi is hardly the first to initiate contact with players running down the field on punt coverage - commonly called "gunners" or "fliers." Two Jets who have played the position said contact is initiated by people standing on the sidelines, whether they be players, coaches or staff members, on a fairly regular basis.

"My first two years in the league [2004-05], I ran down to cover punts, and when you're running down the sideline, it's not like everyone standing there is saying, 'Whoa. A flyer is coming through,' '' Jerricho Cotchery said. "I've been involved in instances where guys stuck out an arm and stuff like that."

Cotchery said there were occasions when he came into contact with someone on the sideline and fell, although he never was injured. He also never was tripped; most of the contact was from a player, coach or team official throwing an elbow or leaning a shoulder into him. And Cotchery never complained.

Carroll didn't complain after Alosi tripped him, although several Miami teammates and coaches ripped Alosi. Carroll called it "water off a duck's back."

Cotchery said it long has been accepted as part of the game.

"I just know from my experience that when you're running down there, you bump into somebody, and they're pushing you off," Cotchery said. "It was never really a big deal."

Jets kick returner Brad Smith said he was jostled by people on the sideline when he played on the outside on punt returns.

"When you run out of bounds, you're going to get hit," he said. "They'll bump you, they'll get in the way. It just so happens this incident got caught on film, but it happens all the time."

Even general manager Mike Tannenbaum, who announced Alosi's punishment last night, said he hadn't realized the extent of contact on the sidelines with players covering punts.

"I learned some of the nuances about that today, that apparently some of these things go on," Tannenbaum said. "I don't want to condone what Sal did, because he was wrong."

Jets coach Rex Ryan acknowledged there is occasional contact on the sidelines but believes it is more a function of people trying to protect themselves from any collisions.

"I've seen coaches get crushed on the sidelines," Ryan said. "It's where I've got to protect myself or I'll get hurt, but it never seems intentional."

Alosi's actions sure seemed intentional, even if Ryan insisted that neither he nor special-teams coach Mike Westhoff tells the staff to behave that way.

Now it would be a good idea for the NFL to redouble its efforts to make sure that what appears to be a common practice is better policed to ensure that something like this never happens again.