New York Jets: Todd Bowles breaks down state of team

It’s not easy being the head coach of the New York Jets, let alone when it’s your first year on the job. Head coach Todd Bowles was dealt a major card yesterday when news hit the football world about his quarterback Geno Smith getting punched in the face by a teammate which resulted in him missing about 6-10 weeks of football action. Linebacker IK Enemkpali was promptly released from the team and now the Jets will more than likely put quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick in as their starting option under center.

So far, Bowles has handled everything well and is using the mantra of “next man up” while keeping everyone focused on the goal at hand. The truth of the matter is, the Jets are rebounding from a 4-12 season last year with hopes that they can make a return to the NFL Playoffs. This looks like it could be a setback but reality says, the Jets should be just fine since Fitzpatrick is more than capable of getting the job done.

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It won’t be easy, but Bowles will continue to do his best to keep the ship sailing into clearer waters. The Jet Press is very grateful to the Media Relations Department of the Jets for sending us a complete transcript of what Bowles had to say about everything and how things are shaping up for the future with the current state of the team. Here it is in its entirety:

On the incident between Ikemenfuna Enemkpali and Geno Smith…

That’s pretty much how it happened. IK (Enemkpali) went up to him. I guess some words were exchanged and he fired off a punch and he dropped.

On whether it was personal or football related…

It was a personal issue that one of them can tell you. I told them I wouldn’t say anything. If they want to tell you, but I thought it was childish either way and it was stupid but, we have to live with the results.

On when it happened…

I couldn’t tell you the time. I can tell you I found out about midmorning, so we went from there.

On how soon after he addressed the media…

Probably a little over an hour.

On whether he found out after walkthrough…

Yes.

On whether Smith bears any responsibility in the altercation…

Well, I think if you don’t put your hands on somebody and somebody punches you, regardless of the situation, barring anybody messing with your kids or your family, you shouldn’t have to hit another man.

On whether he said that Smith put his hands on Enemkpali first…

No, I said he didn’t. I said, barring that he did not put their hands on your without you harming their family you shouldn’t put your hands on anybody.

On whether there was anything Smith said that caused Enemkpali to snap…

Not to my knowledge, no. Not that bad, no.

May 27, 2015; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Jets quarterback Geno Smith (7) hands the ball to New York Jets running back Bilal Powell (29) during organized team activities at Atlantic Health Jets Training Center. Mandatory Credit: Ed Mulholland-USA TODAY Sports

On whether Smith is a totally innocent victim…

I didn’t say he was innocent. I just said the whole thing was childish. It was tit for tat. He say, she say. Some high school stuff they could have handled better than they handled it.

On how media should get the details on what caused the incident if he is not going to share details…

I just told you. He punched him. I gave you all the details.

On the rumors surrounding the incident…

They can tell you that rumor. If you found out the rumor about money, you can do more homework with IK or Geno and you can go from there. I gave them my word that I wouldn’t say anything so I go from there.

On whether there were other people around when it happened…

It was in the locker room, so I don’t know how many were there and how many weren’t. We are still filtering that part out.

On what he observed from the team today in the aftermath of the incident…

I mean we are going to take some body blows. At the end of the day, those guys will handle everything on the field, I’ll handle everything off the field. You’re going to have some adversity. It’s how you play and you work from it and learn from it that you go on. But today we had one of our better practices.

On whether Enemkpali was immediately dismissed from the facility after the incident…

No, I didn’t have all the facts. By the time I found out about it, I went to talk with both of them. And while still gathering all of the information, you have to make sure you have everything right before you make a decision. So that’s what pretty much happened.

On whether there are criminal charges being pursued against Enemkpali …

I think that’s up to Geno and those guys in the Florham Park (Police Department). That has nothing to do with us.

On whether he immediately addressed the team afterwards…

No, it didn’t.

On whether Enemkpali had to be restrained by teammates…

I don’t know. From what I hear, it happened kind of suddenly. It’s hard to jump from me to you or from here to there when you don’t know anything is going to happen.

On whether Smith was unconscious…

No.

On whether he addressed the team…

We talked about it before practice, but I didn’t call them up and address them. I called them up before practice. We had a conversation and we moved on.

On whether Smith has had surgery yet…

No.

On when the surgery will take place…

I have to go back inside to find out. It will be very soon though.

On whether Smith could talk…

Yes.

On the length of time he expects Smith will be out…

I would assume its 6-10 weeks. It all depends on how he heals and what type of surgery they do.

On Ryan Fitzpatrick stepping in…

I been fine with Ryan and Bryce (Petty) all along. I’m pissed off that this kind of thing happened. You don’t condone any man hitting another man regardless of person or who it is or a sport or whatever the case may be, but I’m confident in those two quarterbacks playing well.

August 11, 2015; Florham Park, NJ, USA; New York Jets quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick (14) during training camp at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center. Mandatory Credit: John Munson/THE STAR-LEDGER via USA TODAY Sports

On whether Mike Maccagnan is pursuing other quarterbacks…

We’re going to discuss that when I leave here and see what’s out there, weigh out our options.

On whether he feels confident in Petty being the number two quarterback entering the season…

Right now he’s got to get playing time. Without having a number two, he’s number two. Sometimes its trial under fire so until we see what’s out there and make a decision, he’s number two.

On whether Enemkpali would have been released if he was a starter…

Yes.

On if he made the decision when he heard Enemkpali threw the first punch…

I had to get all the facts first.

On Enemkpali’s mindset when they talked…

He was remorseful. He was very remorseful and once he calmed down, he was very remorseful. And from Geno’s standpoint, anytime someone punches you in the face unwarranted, you’re going to be pissed off and upset and he was pissed off and upset.

On when he spoke to Smith and Enemkpali…

I spoke to them together and I spoke to them separately.

On changing the culture in the locker room…

I think that showed by me letting IK go. We’re not going to tolerate anything like that from anybody. I told the team that. I addressed them. I don’t care who you are. As far as them in the locker room, the veterans have to take care of themselves and they have to police the locker room as well, but when somebody just walks up to you and just takes a shot, you know that can’t be warranted anywhere.

On whether Smith will regain his starting role when he is ready to play…

That’s a conversation we’ll have to have when he comes back. If anybody is 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.

On whether it is Fitzpatrick’s job to lose…

With Geno down, he’s the starter.

On whether Fitzpatrick will be the starter all season…

We’ll revisit that when Geno comes back depending on our record and the time that he comes back and how well Ryan is playing, yeah, Ryan is our starter.

On whether Smith put his finger in Enemkpali’s face…

That doesn’t warrant punching, regardless. That doesn’t warrant anybody punching you in the face.

On whether this was brewing or it just happened…

That’s a personal thing between them. I’m sure it had to be something brewing there because you don’t just walk up to a person and punch them in the face.

Dec 21, 2014; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Jets quarterback Geno Smith (7) drops back to pass against the New England Patriots during the second quarter at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

On whether Smith put his finger in Enemkpali’s face…

No, I didn’t say it happened or didn’t happen. I didn’t hear about any pointing in the face but he still punched another man. You can call him every name in the book and point in their face and do whatever you want, but you punch somebody in the face, that’s some serious stuff.

On if getting into a petty argument is uncalled for as the starting quarterback…

It’s uncalled for anybody on our team, regardless of position.

On how confident he is in Fitzpatrick…

I’m confident in Ryan. Ryan’s had a good camp, Geno was having a good camp, too. It’s hard to replace a guy when both guys are doing well. You (can’t be) wishy-washy, but Ryan’s been a pro. He’s been there before. He’s had a lot of games under his belt. He knows the system. He knows how to throw the ball. He understands the game.

On how he takes controversy in stride…

I mean I know what I signed up for. This is the NFL, we’re not in needling class or anything like that. There are going to be things that come up every day that you have to deal with. As long as you make sure the other guys and the other (members of the) team are alright, and the people that you put out on the field understand this is all about football, you take care of the other stuff separately.

On how long Fitzpatrick will play against Detroit…

We’ve got to discuss that being the fact that we only have two quarterbacks right now. I mean, we have (Jake) Heap and three, but we haven’t even addressed that because this came up so suddenly. I can give you a better answer on that tomorrow

On what happened to Calvin Pryor…

He hurt his pinky. He’ll be fine.

On if Pryor will play Thursday…

Yes.

On if he raised his voice during his discussion with the team…

Yeah I did. It’s too many expletives to come out and say right here in public, but we talked about it and therefore I talked about it in depth and I kind of stood my ground. They understand where I’m coming from and we’ll go from there.

On Enemkpali being calm and remorseful after the incident…

He was angry, but then he understood what he did and he became remorseful. You’ve got to be angry to take a shot like. I don’t think you take a shot like that being calm.

On if any of his anger was placed on Smith’s role in the incident…

Yes, it was. It takes two to tango. One to throw a punch, but two to tango.

On if this is an opportunity to establish his culture…

That kind of comes up every day regardless of the situation. You set rules and you learn lessons. You don’t want to learn too many lessons. Lately, we’ve learned about three in a row so we’ve got to get it at some point. We’ve got to understand what type of team we need to be and what kind of locker room we’re going to have going forward.

On if he’s concerned there may be a lack of leadership…

Not at all. It takes time to right a team. When you come to a team, you’ve got to establish your own culture. That’s not going to happen overnight. You take lessons and you learn from them. You have some guys do some things that are warranted. You have some guys that do things that are unwarranted. But doesn’t change the culture we’re going to create and trying to create and that we keep working on. So for those three things to happen, it doesn’t discourage you as a coach. It makes you stronger. It makes you give statements to players. It makes them understand the rules clearer and hopefully they learn from other people’s mistakes.

On if he’s encountered a situation like this…

Oh, most definitely. I’ve seen it. I haven’t seen someone hit the quarterback. But I’ve seen it done several times. But as a player you’re in a different place than you are as a coach. You adjust, you move on, you make sure both parties are as good as they can be and you keep going.

August 11, 2015; Florham Park, NJ, USA; New York Jets head coach Todd Bowles during practice at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center. Mandatory Credit: John Munson/THE STAR-LEDGER via USA TODAY Sports

On the frequency of fights in the locker room…

They’re not very frequent. A skirmish is, but not to the point to where there’s one punch and somebody is not prepared.

On if Smith hit Enemkpali back…

No.

On if Smith did not have the opportunity to hit Enemkpali back…

No.

On how the other players responded to the incident…

From what I’ve gathered, there were a few players that jumped in that stopped it right away when it happened and nobody knew it was coming.

On who informed him of the incident…

A trainer.

On if Smith needs to cut back on talking smack to other players similar to what appeared to occur last season during the Tennessee game…

No, that’s a separate incident. I think every incident is different. I’m not saying it was Geno’s fault. You don’t provoke anybody into punching you. As much mess talking that goes on out on the field during that game, you don’t see that stuff there and it shouldn’t happen in the locker room.

On if he has ruled anyone out against Detroit…

Not yet. Muhammed (Wilkerson) took some reps today but we’ll warm him up before the game and see how he feels. If I have to err (on the side of caution), I may not play him.

On how he feels about Smith’s absence…

That’s tough for him because he was having a good camp. He came in with a newfound attitude. He was doing some good things and he was making a lot of progress. From that standpoint, you feel for the guy but you want the guy to get better as a person and you want him to get better as a player so hopefully this doesn’t set him back too far.

On his maturity overall…

No, I thought he was maturing well. I thought he was coming along pretty good.

On if he believes players can lose their job to injury…

If the other guy is playing well and the boat is going right and there are no waves and everything is going and we’re 4, 5, 6, 7-0? Yeah, you’re not coming back to start (laughter).

On if the incident was caused by someone owing the other money…

I’ll let those guys explain that to you. Again, I told them I wasn’t going to say anything about it. If they want to address it, they can address it.

Jul 30, 2015; Florham Park, NJ, USA; New York Jets head coach Todd Bowles answers questions from media about the his first day of training camp at Atlantic Health Jets Training Center. Mandatory Credit: Noah K. Murray-USA TODAY Sports

On advice he gave to Enemkpali…

I hope he learns from it. He had an anger thing that went wrong this morning. That’s what happened to him and he can get better from it, but we do not condone or tolerate that kind of thing on this team.

On reason he did not give Enemkpali another opportunity…

You don’t get another opportunity after you’ve just sucker-punched someone in the face and broke their jaw.

On why Sheldon Richardson got another opportunity and Enemkpali didn’t…

No, Sheldon is awaiting league policy and it’s a CBA thing that we can’t do anything about because it’s double-dipping or double jeopardy. If the league doesn’t punish Sheldon, then we can, but right now we can’t.

On how Fitzpatrick performed in practice…

He did some good things. He got some pressure, the o-line let them in a little bit, but Ryan knows what he’s doing. I have full confidence in Ryan.

Next: New York Jets: Willie Colon speaks on Geno Smith altercation

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