The Jets have some explaining to do.

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The Jets staff under then coach Mangini failed to put QB Bret Favre on the injury list as required by NFL rules. Favre had a shoulder problem that would have prevented the average man from playing. According to a recent statement by Favre, he offered to sit out the final few games of the Jets 2008 season because he felt he was hurting the team. His offer was in spite of the fact that it would have ended his consecutive game streak.

Even though the culprit is now with the Browns, the Jets will likely be fined 25-50K by the league. The rule requiring injuries to be reported shows a level of hypocrisy of the NFL that is usually limited to politicians.

The league has said in the past that they require all teams to list their injuries because it levels the playing field by letting the opposition know who is likely to play and who is not. That is an outright lie. The real reason that the reports are required by rule is that the league wants to make that information available to the average joe that bets on games. The wise guys know the inside scoop on injuries. This rule levels the betting odds for the rest of us.

The league has filed suit against the state of Rhode Island to prevent single game betting in that state. But this too is hypocrisy. The league knows that betting on the games is one of the driving factors that generates interest in the games and the results. They do whatever is necessary to increase interest in the game.

But there is another issue here. The fans deserve better communications from teams than Bill Belichick and his clones give us. We are the ones that buy the products that are advertised during the games. Those of us that are Browns fans tend to buy a lot of anything that contains alcohol so that we are mellow enough to watch the games. We deserve to know more about the game and our favorite teams.

One example is that Mangini thought he could keep the name of his starting QB secret. Welcome to the real world. Nothing stays secret for long in Washington or the NFL. We all found out that Quinn is the guy. The league needs to crack down on both the Jets and the coach that suppressed the information. And while Comm. Goodell is at it, how about cracking down on Belichick as well.

That’s what I think. Tell me what you think.

Bill Smith is a former coach of several semi-pro teams, has officiated both football and basketball, done color on radio for college football and basketball and has scouted talent. He is a senior writer for and edits https://fryingpansports.com. He has also published several novels on and edits .

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