Jets get their panties in a wad over Geno photos

Geno Smith is a terrible human being for throwing a football with his friends two days removed from jaw surgery as the New York Jets quarterback was photographed on Sunday in a game of toss-and-catch outside his apartment complex in north Jersey.

This past Tuesday, Smith’s jaw was broken in two places by former teammate IK Enemkpali after a dispute involving $600 reached a boiling point, leading the linebacker to punch out the Jets starting quarterback. Smith required jaw surgery late last week and is expected to miss up to 10 weeks as he recovers. He was at the team’s practice facility on Sunday afternoon but before that, he played some catch with some friends in the parking lot near his apartment.

And this is apparently a terrible thing to let a man who has been a national spectacle for the past week let loose for a few minutes. Smith still isn’t a very good quarterback and the Jets are actually going to be more competitive under Ryan Fitzpatrick but this isn’t the end of the world.

Rather than be praised for what appears to be a good sign towards his recovery, the Jets seem to be taking a firm hand on this news.

Following Sunday’s training camp session, head coach Todd Bowles was none too pleasedas he said the Jets would handle this instance internally. Smith was photographed sporting bandages on his face, apparently from his surgery.

The Jets head coach didn’t get to see Smith before he addressed the media after Sunday’s session concluded; the quarterback slipped into the building to meet with the medical staff while the team was on the field. Bowles message, however, left no room for interpretation when asked his thoughts on the photographs taken by the NY Post.

“He shouldn’t be doing it right now. We’ll handle it internally, we’ll have that discussion,” Bowles said.

When pushed why, Bowles made it clear that he didn’t want his quarterback getting hurt after the surgery or risk any complications.

“Yeah, he just had surgery,” Bowles said. “We don’t want it getting infected.”

Plenty of things are terrible about this situation, including Smith’s immaturity in not paying off the debt he owed to Enemkpali and sticking his finger in the face of a teammate. But him being able to have a few moments of fun with some friends after a brutal few days is not one of them.