If anyone thought the New York Jets camp would be more sedate after the Rex Ryan era, Tuesday’s news of a punch up came as a rude shock. Although perhaps not as much of a shock as the one Geno Smith received to his jaw.
The Jets head coach Todd Bowles confirmed that his quarterback will be out of action for six to 10 weeks with a broken jaw after being “sucker-punched” in the locker room. The 261lbs linebacker IK Enemkpali delivered the blow, and has been released by the team.
“You can’t tolerate that,” Bowles said. “When you have a team and a bunch of side issues you can’t tolerate that. It’s something that happened in the locker room and we’re dealing with it internally and that’s what we’ll do.”
The Jets’ best player, Darrelle Revis said both men were to blame for the incident, which is believed to have set off by $600 Smith owed Enemkpali. “I hold both of them responsible,” Revis said. “Just how it all played out at the end when you gather all the information, but at the same time, you gotta move forward. There’s nothing really to harp on no more.”
Ryan Fitzpatrick is expected to replace Smith at quarterback and will more than likely be the team’s starter for the new season. Some had expected Smith to break through as a reliable quarterback in 2015 after playing well towards the end of last season.
There will be Jets fans who welcome Fitzpatrick’s promotion however. Smith’s first two seasons in the league have been a struggle, with the quarterback throwing 25 touchdowns to 34 interceptions. Over the same period, Fitzpatrick has 31 touchdowns to 20 interceptions including a franchise-record six TDs in one game for the Houston Texans last season. Fitzpatrick has also worked with Jets offensive co-ordinator Chan Gailey before, when the pair were at the Buffalo Bills.
Bowles said he could not guarantee that Smith would win his place back if Fitzpatrick played well.
“That’s a conversation we have to have when he comes back,” Bowles said. “If anybody’s playing great, you lose your spot by injury, you lose your spot by a bunch of things, so if he’s playing great and the ship is going the right way, you don’t make a move. But we’ll see as we go.
“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.”
Fitzpatrick said he is ready to step up to the challenge and make the role his own. “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,” he told reporters. “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.”
Bryce Petty, a fourth-round pick in this year’s draft, and undrafted free agent Jake Heaps are the other quarterbacks on the Jets roster. Petty has potential but has struggled so far in training camp this year.
Bowles did not say what had caused the fight but he made clear his feelings on the matter. “I’ll let them tell you,” Bowles said of the fight. “It’s something very childish that sixth-graders could have talked about ... If they want to tell you what happened they’ll tell you what happened. I told them I wouldn’t say anything.”
Bowles said he was not aware of any animosity between the pair before the altercation. “Not to my knowledge,” he said. “Obviously, it was a sudden thing.”
Enemkpali has had disciplinary issues in the past. While a student at Louisiana Tech, he punched an off-duty policeman during a bar fight and had to be subdued with pepper spray. He received a suspended jail sentence and community service for the incident.
Smith published a defiant Instagram post after the fight and vowed to return.
Jets wide receiver Brandon Marshall, who has spoken highly of Smith in the run-up to the new season, was even more to the point on Twitter.
😥
— Machine Marshall (@BMarshall) August 11, 2015
The Jets were given credit for drafting well earlier this year but their pre-season had already been hit by the arrest and suspension of star defensive lineman Sheldon Richardson.
