Jets placekicker willing to share blame for loss

Thursday, Nov. 6, 2003 | 10:19 a.m.

SUN WIRE REPORTS

New York Jets kicker Doug Brien, who was blamed by coaches for the field-goal fiasco in the overtime loss to the Giants on Sunday, conceded Wednesday that he took too long to get ready for the attempt but said that he was not the only one at fault.

"I don't believe that any one person or one play is ever at fault, no matter what happens in the game," Brien said. "There are too many plays and too many things happen."

Brien said he had been tortured by the field goal for two days. Brien and his holder, Dan Stryzinski, have since worked out a system so that if the situation recurs, Stryzinski will tell Brien how much time he has.

"It was kind of a perfect storm," Brien said. "A lot of little things added up. The chances of it happening again -- we can practice all we want for it, but it's probably not going to happen."

The Jets' special teams coach, Mike Westhoff, said Brien's methodical routine before the 51-yard field-goal attempt caused the Jets to hurry as the play clock was winding down.

"I clearly took too long; I wasn't ready to kick," Brien said. "But at the same time, I didn't know I was taking too much time at the time, that's the problem. Center Kevin Mawae, who lines up on the right side of the field-goal formation, said he was supposed to block two players on the attempt. He took a step too far inside and could not get enough of his body on Will Allen, who blocked the kick.

"The whole thing was botched from the beginning," Mawae said. "I stepped too far inside, which didn't allow me to get enough on the outside guy. In that aspect, I take the blame for not getting my job done. But that play was botched from the start."

Slaughter's attorney, Hank Coxe, said Slaughter reached an agreement with state prosecutors to surrender his gun and make a $500 charitable donation in exchange for dropping the charges.

Slaughter was arrested for aggravated assault Oct. 27 after two men in a passing car called police, saying Slaughter pointed a gun at them. The men said they pulled alongside Slaughter to admire the tire rims on his car.

Slaughter told police he carried a gun in the center console of his vehicle, but that he never pointed it at anyone.

The day after his arrest, the Jaguars cut Slaughter, saying the move was performance related.

The Raiders placed Tuiasosopo on injured reserve Wednesday with a completely torn medial collateral ligament in his left knee and filled his roster spot with practice squad quarterback Tee Martin. Oakland also signed quarterback Rob Johnson on Tuesday, so either Johnson or Martin will be the backup Sunday.

Kittner's rating is an abysmal 32.4, which would easily be lowest in the league if he qualified. He has completed only 42 percent of his passes. He has four interceptions and only one touchdown.

Coach Tony Dungy said that initial X-rays and examinations didn't show the fracture, but an MRI taken later did.

Pyatt was injured on Miami's first punt Sunday when Tommy Hendricks made a helmet-to-helmet tackle in the first quarter. Pyatt remained on the ground for several minutes and was taken off, immobilized, on a stretcher. The Colts initially called it a chest injury.

Parker re-injured his shoulder in Sunday's loss at Chicago and will miss the rest of the season.