New York Jets wide receivers coach Miles Austin has been suspended by the NFL for a minimum of one year for violating the league’s gambling policy.
NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy on Friday confirmed the suspension, which Austin is appealing. McCarthy added the league would have no further comment until the appeal is resolved.
The former NFL wide receiver did not coach in the Jets’ 19-3 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars on Thursday night.
Austin’s attorney and agent William P. Deni Jr. said in a statement emailed to The Associated Press that Austin did not gamble on football.
“The NFL suspended Miles Austin for wagering from a legal mobile account on table games and non-NFL professional sports,” Deni said. “Miles did not wager on any NFL game in violation of the gambling policy for NFL personnel. He has been fully cooperative with the NFL’s investigation. He is appealing his suspension.”
Per the NFL’s gambling policy for personnel, wagering on sports — even if not NFL games — is a violation.
NFL Network and ESPN first reported Austin’s suspension by the league.
Austin is in his second season coaching on Robert Saleh’s staff with the Jets. The two were also on San Francisco’s staff together in 2019, when Saleh was the defensive coordinator and Austin an offensive quality control coach. The 38-year-old Austin also served as a pro and college scouting intern for Dallas during the 2017 and ’18 seasons.
Austin caught 361 passes for 5,273 yards and 37 touchdowns during a 10-year NFL playing career. Signed by the Cowboys as an undrafted free agent out of Monmouth in 2006, Austin played his first eight seasons in Dallas and made the Pro Bowl in 2009 and 2010.
He finished his playing career with one-year stints in Cleveland (2014) and Philadelphia (2015) before retiring and pursuing coaching.
