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| Geno Smith won't be throwing passes for a while (Google Images) |
In the New York Jets locker room, the team consists of two separate, yet equally hostile groups. The offense, led by a quarterback in debt, and the defense, led by one linebacker out to settle the score. This is their story.
Just when Jets fans thought their team couldn't get any more dysfunctional, something comes in out of left field and proves that things can always get stranger for Gang Green.
About a month ago, on July 14, defensive end Sheldon Richardson was arrested in St. Charles County, Missouri. He was driving his Bentley at speeds in excess of 140 mph with two other men and a 12-year-old boy in the car, all of whom smelled like marijuana. A loaded handgun was also found under the driver's seat.
Clearly these are very serious charges, but because Richardson is an NFL player and not a brain surgeon, the chase was not without a somewhat comical conclusion.
Richardson pulled off the highway onto a residential street in an attempt to evade his pursuers. He pulled in a driveway and turned off his car thinking he'd lost the cops. Unfortunately, he forgot one basic part of drivers ed class. Whether the car is running or not, if your foot is on the brake, the brake lights still light up. Richardson left his foot on the brake, giving police a bright red path right to him.
There was not enough evidence to charge him with drug possession or child endangerment and guns are legal in Missouri, so Richardson was not formally charged with a crime. But the team has suspended him for the first four games of the season.
That all sounds pretty crazy, right? How could the Jets preseason possibly get any more interesting than including a real life version of Grand Theft Auto: Missouri Mayhem?
Well, I'll tell you how.
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| Fear the beard: Ryan Fitzpatrick will be the starting QB for the Jets (Google Images) |
On Tuesday morning, quarterback Geno Smith and defensive linebacker Ikemefuna "IK" Enemkpali got into a heated argument in the Jets locker room. The debate was over money that Smith owed Enemkpali, not anything related to football. While it is unclear what was said and what exactly happened overall, the end result was Smith taking a punch to the mouth that broke his jaw in two places. He will be out six to ten weeks due to surgery and Enemkpali has already been released by the team. He has since been picked up by the Buffalo Bills.
This means that Ryan Fitzpatrick will more than likely become the starting quarterback of the Jets this year. After bouncing around from the Rams, to the Bengals, to the Bills, to the Titans, to the Texans, the journeyman play caller has proven to be a solid choice who can win some games for the Jets. The same can not be said about Smith and many fans might be thinking that this could be a blessing in disguise, despite the fact that nobody wanted to see what happened happen. Had Smith not been injured, it would have been interesting to see if he could've improved after a 2014 season that could only be described as disastrous.
Sources have said that the dispute began when Enemkpali tried to collect a $600 debt form Smith. The linebacker lent Smith the money to purchase a plane ticket to attend a football camp in July. But unfortunately, a friend of Smith's was killed in a motorcycle accident around that same time, so he never attended the camp. ESPN football analyst and former safety for the Steelers, the Redskins and the Giants, Ryan Clark gave the New York Post a synopsis of what happened after the fact.
"These guys were in each other's face," he told "Mike and Mike" on ESPN radio. "Geno put his fingers in the guy's face and told the guy, 'Well, you're not going to do anything about it.'"
“It became about the fact that Geno wasn’t necessarily apologetic and being in a way remorseful about the money when saying he was going to pay IK back and he didn’t. He was rather smug about it.” Clark also said that this isn't the first time Enemkpali has gotten worked up about not getting paid back in a timely manner. “This guy is really tight about money, he really is,” Clark said. “He couldn’t [move on]."
Clark said he's spoken to Enemkpali since the fight and said he was “extremely apologetic.”
This has also been an interesting start to Todd Bowles first season as the Jets head coach. Bowles headed east at the end of last season after serving two years as the Arizona Cardinals' defensive coordinator. He told members of the media Tuesday morning that the fight was over "some high school stuff that some six year olds could have handled better than they handled it." He also said that the team wouldn't tolerate this kind of behavior.
As a side note, remember Sheldon Richardson? I guess that stuff he did is all within the rules as far as the Jets are concerned. Not that punching a teammate is good, but when you compare his four game suspension to Enemkpali getting cut, Richardson's punishment doesn't fit the crime.
When asked if Smith's spot was in danger and if they would consider putting him back in when he's back to health, Bowles' response was to the point. Don't rock the boat.
"If the other guy's playing well, and the boat's going right, and there are no waves, and everything's going, and we're 4, 5, 6, 7-0? Yeah, you're not coming back to start." Which means that the Jets hopes for a winning season rest on having the Amish Rifle under center for most likely the entire season.
"Geno has put a lot of work in this offseason," Fitzpatrick said of Smith's injury Tuesday after his coach spoke. "There's been a ton of improvement with him. I think it was just an unfortunate situation. There was a lot of disappointment on that end of it for him." While this is not the way he wanted to win the starting job, by any means, Fitzpatrick and his epic facial hair are up to the challenge. He feels he still has a lot left in him and that he can help his team win
"That's why I still play," he replied. "If I didn't want to be here and if I didn't love this game and if I didn't have confidence in myself then I wouldn't be standing here in front of you guys. I would be on vacation with my five kids, sailing off into the sunset with a career that nobody probably thought I would've had. But for me I'm not satisfied with what I've done."
The Jets aren't satisfied with what they've done lately either. While this episode of Jaw and Order resulted in some rather harsh justice and the end of Geno Smith's season, Fitzpatrick and the New York Jets are both very hungry and that might be just what the fans of Gang Green need to get back to the post season.
"These guys were in each other's face," he told "Mike and Mike" on ESPN radio. "Geno put his fingers in the guy's face and told the guy, 'Well, you're not going to do anything about it.'"
“It became about the fact that Geno wasn’t necessarily apologetic and being in a way remorseful about the money when saying he was going to pay IK back and he didn’t. He was rather smug about it.” Clark also said that this isn't the first time Enemkpali has gotten worked up about not getting paid back in a timely manner. “This guy is really tight about money, he really is,” Clark said. “He couldn’t [move on]."
Clark said he's spoken to Enemkpali since the fight and said he was “extremely apologetic.”
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| Jets head coach, Todd Bowles (Google Images) |
This has also been an interesting start to Todd Bowles first season as the Jets head coach. Bowles headed east at the end of last season after serving two years as the Arizona Cardinals' defensive coordinator. He told members of the media Tuesday morning that the fight was over "some high school stuff that some six year olds could have handled better than they handled it." He also said that the team wouldn't tolerate this kind of behavior.
As a side note, remember Sheldon Richardson? I guess that stuff he did is all within the rules as far as the Jets are concerned. Not that punching a teammate is good, but when you compare his four game suspension to Enemkpali getting cut, Richardson's punishment doesn't fit the crime.
When asked if Smith's spot was in danger and if they would consider putting him back in when he's back to health, Bowles' response was to the point. Don't rock the boat.
"If the other guy's playing well, and the boat's going right, and there are no waves, and everything's going, and we're 4, 5, 6, 7-0? Yeah, you're not coming back to start." Which means that the Jets hopes for a winning season rest on having the Amish Rifle under center for most likely the entire season.
"Geno has put a lot of work in this offseason," Fitzpatrick said of Smith's injury Tuesday after his coach spoke. "There's been a ton of improvement with him. I think it was just an unfortunate situation. There was a lot of disappointment on that end of it for him." While this is not the way he wanted to win the starting job, by any means, Fitzpatrick and his epic facial hair are up to the challenge. He feels he still has a lot left in him and that he can help his team win
"That's why I still play," he replied. "If I didn't want to be here and if I didn't love this game and if I didn't have confidence in myself then I wouldn't be standing here in front of you guys. I would be on vacation with my five kids, sailing off into the sunset with a career that nobody probably thought I would've had. But for me I'm not satisfied with what I've done."
The Jets aren't satisfied with what they've done lately either. While this episode of Jaw and Order resulted in some rather harsh justice and the end of Geno Smith's season, Fitzpatrick and the New York Jets are both very hungry and that might be just what the fans of Gang Green need to get back to the post season.
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