MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. -- Dolphins linebackers coach Ryan Crow will remain on administrative leave following his August arrest for domestic battery, although the charge against him will be dropped, coach Mike McDaniel said Wednesday.
Both the Broward State Attorney office and Crow's attorney, Michael Gottlieb confirmed to ESPN that the misdemeanor charge against Crow will be dropped, but McDaniel said Crow will remain on leave pending a league investigation.
"No status changed with the team," McDaniel said Wednesday. "We won't even bridge that until the league is done with their process."
Crow was arrested early in the morning of Aug. 29 after a verbal argument with a woman who lived with him escalated into a physical altercation, according to multiple witnesses in an arrest report issued by the Fort Lauderdale Police Department. He was immediately placed on indefinite administrative leave.
"To be on a team, it's a blessing that you have to have regard for things much bigger than yourself," McDaniel said in September. "Rule No. 1 is to protect the team for reasons such as that, and that one was violated."
According to a closing memo obtained by ESPN, the State was able to obtain video footage of what multiple witnesses told Fort Lauderdale Police Department officers was a physical altercation between Crow and his live-in girlfriend after a Dolphins work party.
Both Crow and his girlfriend "had been drinking excessively" and engaged in a verbal argument outside their apartment building in downtown Fort Lauderdale. Video obtained by the State corroborated some of the witnesses' claims, the footage was unable to clearly show any battery occurring.
According to the closing memo, Crow's girlfriend said that the incident was "an alcohol fueled event, that she was not in fear of the defendant and wanted contact with him."
While the court imposed a no-contact order between Crow and his girlfriend, it was vacated after he satisfied a substance abuse evaluation.
"The victim remains uncooperative with the prosecution of this case. Neither the witnesses, nor the video surveillance, clearly establish that a battery occurred without the cooperation of the victim to describe step by step what transpired," the State's closing memo read. "Although the witnesses interpreted the victim's need for help based upon their observations, the victim never said anything to them and these facts would not meet the legal threshold required for any of the witnesses to be permitted to testify in a court of law as to the victim's state of mind.
"For the reasons set forth above, there is no reasonable likelihood of conviction and this case is being declined."
Gottlieb pushed back against the State's assessment of Crow's girlfriend's cooperation, saying she cooperated -- she just didn't want Crow arrested or any charges filed.
Senior defensive assistant Sean Ryan has coached the Dolphins' linebackers in Crow's stead.
Crow, 37, joined the Dolphins in 2024 after three seasons in the same role with the Tennessee Titans. He has coached in the NFL since 2018, all with the Titans and Dolphins.