Recapping The Geno Smith Injury Incident
Every late summer, it seems as though at least one crazy story comes out of the NFL preseason. It is still pretty early in the year, but the craziest story might just be the injury suffered by Geno Smith of the New York Jets. Many people predicted that he would be the starting quarterback for the team this year, but now he is recuperating from a broken jaw after being punched in the face by IK Enemkpali. There is a chance that he misses close to half of the regular season, and fans of the New York Jets are starting to wonder if the season is already over before even begins.
The most important position for any team in the NFL is quarterback, and they are usually protected as much as possible. That is just one reason why this story is strange, as Enemkpali confronted the quarterback in the locker room allegedly over money owed. Neither player really backed down, so Enemkpali reacted by punching the former West Virginia standout. The punch was so substantial that Smith was forced to undergo surgery to try to speed up the recovery process.
We will probably never know every detail about what happened leading up to the punch, but there are several changes going on with the Jets. Smith was not one of the fantasy football top picks 2015 to look out for, but he was still talented enough to possibly be their starter every single week. Now, he is not physically able to perform until the end of September at the earliest. As for Enemkpali, he has already been released by the Jets and picked up by the Buffalo Bills. That’s right, Rex Ryan’s Buffalo Bills. The divisional rival coached by the former Jets coach has added another wrinkle to this story.
About the only positive taken from the story is the fact that it happened so early in the preseason. Smith is going to miss anywhere from 6-10 weeks, but about four of them will be in the preseason. Many within the New York Jets still feel like this team can be a playoff contender in 2015, but they certainly did not need this controversy. It is frustrating to say the least, but maybe some other crazy story in the preseason around the NFL will take the attention off of this sooner rather than later.