Jets rookie tight end Chris Herndon was arrested for DWI last weekend, which makes him the second Jets player arrested for driving while intoxicated this offseason and the fourth player from the team to be arrested in the last 13 months.
On Tuesday, Jets head coach Todd Bowles faced questions about those off-field issues and whether they are a sign that the team’s disciplinary process is strong enough. Bowles said “our disciplinary process is fine” and said that the DWI arrests -- linebacker Dylan Donahue has been arrested twice on those charges since being drafted in 2017 -- in particular are an issue well beyond the nFL.
“It’s going to pop up,” Bowles said, via NJ.com. “It’s not a Jet problem or a league problem. It’s a nationwide problem. We’re against them. Things happen in your 20s, and you treat them on an individual basis. DUI is a problem nationwide. It’s not a football problem. That doesn’t make it OK. I’m not here to sit here and say I approve of it, because I don’t. Is it a problem? Yes. To lay all this on Chris, no, we ain’t going to lay all of it on him. He’s got to take responsibility. We understand that.”
Bowles said that his life experience has taught him that people who want to drink are going to do so even if they are penalized, but did say the team “could have a different policy” regarding zero tolerance for players arrested for such offenses at some point in the future.