Jets Reportedly Requested NFL Search Locker Room Before Patriots Game

The New England Patriots defeated the New York Jets in Week 7, 30-23, and according to a new report, the NFL may have made sure they didn't have any illegal advantages over Gang Green prior to the contest.  

According to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk on Friday, Boomer Esiason reported on WFAN that the Jets requested the NFL sweep their locker room for possible surveillance equipment ahead of their Week 7 loss.

"No such request was made by the Jets," the league told Florio in a statement. However, the statement did not address whether the NFL checked the locker room for bugs.

Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News also reported that the Jets are not believed to have asked the NFL to investigate their locker room.

However, Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald reported not only did the Jets initiate the complaint, but multiple Patriots staffers were also "interrogated" by an NFL employee:

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The NFL employee said the reason for the questioning stemmed from a complaint filed by the Jets, who demanded to know whether the radio frequencies and stadium operations were performed up to an appropriate standard.

The NFL employee took photographs of each Patriots employee and their identification badges, demanded to check their cell phones and also checked their radios to ensure they were operating through the proper channels. The NFL employee also said they already swept the visiting locker room for bugs.

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Howe's report also states by the end of the game, the NFL informed the Patriots they found no wrongdoing. 

Florio of Pro Football Talk provided an email detailing the incident:

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Jets Security Director Robert Mastroddi made an inquiry with NFL Security regarding the presence of two individuals wearing headsets and Patriots attire, who were positioned outside of the bench area on the Patriots sideline,” the email states. “Mastroddi requested to know who they were, and expressed concern given their proximity to the Patriots bench.

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The Pats are no strangers to controversy, as evidenced by the Deflategate scandal that took the league by storm during the offseason, but they came under fire long before that incident ever came to light.

The Jets were at the center of the previous situation, too, as then-Jets head coach Eric Mangini made the NFL aware that the Patriots illegally taped their signals. That became known as the Spygate scandal and resulted in the Pats' getting fined and stripped of their first-round draft pick in 2008.

According to Bleacher Report's Jason Cole, suspicion of bugging locker rooms is nothing new in the NFL, and it hasn't always involved the Patriots, either:

New England's past transgressions have undoubtedly made it a league-wide target, which seems unlikely to change anytime soon, even if the Pats are currently on the straight and narrow.

There is no shortage of outside noise surrounding the Patriots, and while that could easily turn into a distraction, that hasn't been the case for them in 2015, as they are 7-0 and once again in contention to win a championship.

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