Jets QB Geno Smith Out 6-10 Weeks After Being Sucker Punched In Locker Room

Update:

ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that the issue that led to former Jets LB IK Enemkpali and sucker punching QB Geno Smith stems from $600 that Enemkpali believed Smith owed him.

According to Schefter, Enemkpali purchased a plane ticket for Smith to attend his July 11 football camp at Pfugerville High School in Pfugerville, Texas. However, Smith never attended Enemkpali’s camp after a person close to Smith was killed in a motorcycle accident in Miami.

Enemkpali reportedly demanded that Smith refund him the $600 he used to be buy the ticket, but Smith never did, even after he told Enemkpali that he would reimburse him the money.

Enkempali confronted Smith today about the money and the confrontation and resulted in Smith walking away with a broken jaw.

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Jets HC Todd Bowles announced Tuesday that starting QB Geno Smith is out 6-10 weeks after he was sucker punched during an altercation in the team’s locker room by LB IK Enemkpali, per Rich Cimini.

Bowles told reporters that Smith will undergo surgery and Enemkpali has been released by team following the incident.

“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.”

• Mike Garafolo has been told that Smith put his finger in Enemkpali’s face during an argument and that’s what led to the punch.
• Adam Schefter reports that Smith’s jaw was broken in two places.

Ian Rapoport reports that Smith is now a candidate to placed on injured reserve with the designation to return, which would cost him the first eight weeks of the season.

A Jets’ source referred to Enemkpdi as “a huge ball of muscle” and added that “he’s not the guy you want to be punched by,” per Jason La Canfora.

This opens the door for Ryan Fitzpatrick to be the team’s starting quarterback with rookie Bryce Petty likely being their back while Smith is out.

Smith, 24, is entering his third season with the Jets and was in line for a make-or-break situation. However, we may not see him appear in a game until midway through the season.

Last year, Smith appeared in 14 games and threw for 2,525 and completed 59.7 percent of his passes to go along with 13 touchdowns and 13 interceptions.

Enemkpali, 24, was taken in seventh round of the 2014 draft and had three years remaining on his four-year, $2.3 million rookie contract.

In 2014, Enemkpali wound up appearing in six games and recorded three tackles and two pass defenses for the Jets.