Linebacker Ike Enemkpali #51 of the New York Jets looks on during the first day of rookie minicamp on May 16, 2014 in Florham Park, New Jersey. “It was never my intention to hurt anyone”.
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“Getting out there just cleared my mind”, Enemkpali said following his Buffalo Bills’ debut in a preseason-opening 25-24 loss to Carolina on Friday. “I’m very grateful, thankful and happy to be a Bill”. He was then escorted off the field by two team employees.
This wasn’t Enemkpali’s first brush with trouble. He was suspended from the Louisiana Tech team in 2011 after being arrested for an off-campus incident in which he was booked for disturbing the peace and battery of a police officer. After being subdued by pepper spray and a stun gun, he was arrested on the charges of battery and disturbing the peace.
Yet Enemkpali wasn’t the only Jet that Ryan had his eye on. “[The doctors] said he couldn’t do anything physical, so I’m going by the rules of what they said”. “We’ve gotta worry about the other guys on the team right now, and we’re gonna move forward”. Embattled Bills players and coaches such as Richie Incognito, Percy Harvin and Aaron Kromer can all embrace the 24-year-old’s narrative, but it’s defensive coordinator Dennis Thurman with the best redemption story of all.
The quote follows a similar pattern to a formal statement released by Enemkpali earlier this week upon his release from the Jets.
Fitzpatrick finished 2-of-3 passing on Thursday for just 16 yards, so there’s still plenty left to learn about his ability to lead the Jets offense to points and not just “smooth” offensive communication. Ryan and Whaley both acknowledged that the league is investigating what happened, and could suspend the player. “If they hadn’t given me a second chance, I wouldn’t be here right now”.
“I’m not going to say he’s totally wrong or anything like that, because I don’t know the circumstances”, Williams said.
Enemkpali was cut, and picked up by the Buffalo Bills. “It’s not something we have to worry about here in Buffalo”.
“Obviously it was a bad thing that happened”. “I should’ve walked away from the situation”, he said.
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“I think [owner Terry Pegula] has confidence in our beliefs, and in this case, [GM] Doug [Whaley] is showing a lot of faith in me as well”, Ryan said. That’s all behind me. But it’s the circumstances in which his jaw was broken that make us chuckle more out of obviousness than anything else.
