Brandon Marshall: Geno Smith did nothing wrong before locker fight
One of Geno Smith's teammates is finally defending him.
After Geno Smith was punched in the face by former teammate IK Enemkpali on Aug. 11, Smith's teammates weren't exactly rushing to get in line to speak up for Smith.
As a matter of fact, cornerback Darrelle Revis blamed both men for the incident that left Smith with a broken jaw.
"I hold both of them responsible," Revis said. "Just how it all played out at the end when you gather all the information, but at the same time, you gotta move forward."
Jets wide receiver Brandon Marshall is also ready to move forward, but before he moves forward he wants to set the record straight.
"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 told Fox on Monday, via 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 also explained why teammates like Revis aren't defending Smith.
"Because he's young," Marshall said. "He's 24. It hasn't been his team. 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."
In a separate interview with ESPN, Marshall also disputed a report that Smith put a finger in Enemkpali's face.
"Did he put his finger in his face? No, he didn't," Marshall told Mike & Mike on ESPN Radio. "Geno Smith, he didn't do anything wrong that day. It's just an unfortunate situation."
The dispute between Smith and Enemkpali was allegedly over a $600 plane ticket. Former Steelers safety Ryan Clark said last week that a "smug" Smith put a finger in Enemkpali's face and allegedly told him "You can't do anything about the debt."
Marshall admits that the entire incident has been a distraction, but he says that the team is ready to move on.
"People think it's a distraction. It is. It sucks. It was shocking. I'm very disappointed," Marshall said. "I feel bad for the kid, because he was doing really good. But we have to move forward if we want to win. Geno knows that."
Smith is trying to move forward too, but apparently, he's even having trouble doing that.
Coach Todd Bowles became upset with Smith over the weekend after he found out that Smith had been throwing the football at home, just two days after he underwent surgery on his broken jaw.
Things have been much simpler for Enemkpali. Not only did he play in his first preseason game with the Bills over the weekend, but he's also been getting support from a few of his former Jets teammates.
"They always see how I am doing, they call and check on me," Enemkpali said after the Bills 25-24 loss to the Panthers on Friday.
