Geno Smith Is Doing Too Much After Surgery
The New York Jets understand that Geno Smith is eager to get back to the field following his jaw surgery, but they don't want him to be overzealous and foolish in his recovery.
According to ESPN, the Jets reprimanded Smith for playing catch Sunday, just two days after his surgery to repair his fractured jaw, which was broken via a sucker-punch from then-teammate IK Enemkpali in a locker-room incident last Tuesday. In doing so, Smith disobeyed orders to avoid physical activity.
"He shouldn't be doing it right now," Jets coach Todd Bowles said after practice. "We handled that internally. We had that discussion."
Bowles added: "[Smith] just got surgery. You don't want it infected. [The doctors] said he couldn't do anything physical."
Smith is still expected to be out of action six to 10 weeks.
He reportedly irked Enemkpali by not paying a $600 debt he owed him, driving the reserve linebacker to punch the starting Jets quarterback. The Jets immediately released Enemkpali, but former Jets coach and current Buffalo Bills coach Rex Ryan claimed the linebacker off waivers the following day.
In an interview on ESPN's Mike & Mike on Monday, Jets wide receiver Brandon Marshall defended Smith.
"Did he put his finger in his face? No, he didn't," Marshall said. "Geno Smith, he didn't do anything wrong that day. It's just an unfortunate situation. "It's a body blow for us, but we have to move forward. We'll probably have another couple of days...probably a couple of weeks of the New York media (asking) the team questions, but we're built for this. We don't want any distractions."
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(Photo: Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
