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Jets' Allegation Reportedly Led To 'Unprecedented' Interrogation On Patriots Sideline

BOSTON (CBS) – It's been nearly a week since the Patriots earned a 30-23 victory over the rival New York Jets.

But more reports continue to surface regarding allegations the Jets made against New England during the Week 7 game.

Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald reported Friday night that, according to a source, a Jets complaint led to an "unprecedented" interrogation of three Patriots employees.

The Boston Herald report came on the same day that Boomer Esiason indicated that the NFL had checked the Jets locker room for listening devices prior to the game. Additional news outlets reported Friday that the sweep may have happened, but not at the request of the Jets.

According to Howe, an NFL employee took photographs of three Patriots employees and their identification badges and "demanded" to view their cell phones and radios.

"After the questioning, which lasted about 15 minutes, the NFL employee continued to hover over the three Patriots employees until the third quarter, when a stadium operations manager told the NFL employee to route all further inquiries through Patriots and Gillette Stadium management," Howe reported.

On Saturday, Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio confirmed that the Jets did indeed prompt a sideline interrogation by lodging a complaint about two Kraft Sports employees wearing headsets and Patriots gear who were outside of the bench area of the home sideline.

The complaint was made by Jets security director Robert Mastroddi to NFL Security, Pro Football Talk reported.

Florio reported that the employees were responsible for in-stadium entertainment and for keeping fresh batteries for the referee's in-stadium microphone.

"People responsible for maintaining the referee's microphone should be League contractors and not Kraft Sports employees wearing Patriots gear," Mastroddi complained, according to Pro Football Talk.

But after a phone call to league headquarters, it was determined that the Patriots employees were doing their job and that team employees are responsible for referee batteries, not the league.

The Patriots were cleared of any wrongdoing by the next day, Florio reports.

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