There is a growing consensus that New York Jets quarterback Geno Smith may have been responsible for the recent altercation with a former teammate that left him with a broken jaw. According to Brandon Marshall, anyone who says Smith “deserved” what he got is wrong.
In fact, Marshall insists Smith was essentially an innocent bystander. During an appearance on FOX TV Monday morning, the veteran wide receiver said Smith “did nothing wrong.”
“I was sitting right there and I would say this without going into too many details because we’ve already moved past it: Geno smith did nothing wrong,” Marshall explained, per Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News. “He did nothing wrong. … And that’s all I’m going to say about that because we have to move forward and I don’t want to be a distraction to our team, but Geno Smith did everything the right way.”
Marshall, who moved in with Smith this offseason in order to build chemistry with his new quarterback, is the first Jets player to outright defend Smith publicly. Anonymous sources who were inside the locker room when I.K. Enemkpali broke Smith’s jaw said the former West Virginia star was asking for it. Head coach Todd Bowles and veteran defensive back Darrelle Revis placed the blame on both Smith and Enemkpali.
Marshall says no one jumped in to defend Smith simply because he is a younger player.
“He’s 24. It hasn’t been his team,’ Marshall explained. “He’s been in and out of the lineup the last couple years. There’s been a lot of question marks. But I don’t care about the past. I care about what he’s done this offseason and OTAs and in camp and leading up to that day. To me, he’s been a leader. He’s getting better at it. It wasn’t his team. He had to earn that and he still has to continue to earn that.”
No matter what Smith may have said to Enemkpali, he didn’t deserve to have his face rearranged. It’s still difficult to agree with what Cris Carter said about Smith, but the fact that it took so long for a Jets player to defend the team’s starting quarterback says a lot.
