Bills Claim IK Enemkpali Day After He Broke Geno Smith's Jaw
Buffalo Bills coach Rex Ryan is doing some serious trolling of his former New York Jets team.
A day after reserve linebacker IK Enemkpali was cut by the Jets for reportedly sucker-punching quarterback Geno Smith and breaking his jaw Tuesday — putting him out of action for six to 10 weeks — Ryan and the Bills claimed Enemkpali on Wednesday.
"We all know what happened and things like that," Ryan told the media, including ESPN. "Obviously, it was a terrible thing that happened. But IK made a mistake, there's no question about that. But instead of listening to this person, that person or whatever — we had IK last year. A lot of us were around IK, and he was a good teammate."
While he was the head coach of the Jets, Ryan actually drafted Enemkpali in the sixth round of the 2014 NFL Draft. Even though the NFL is reviewing the Smith-Enemkpali incident and could punish the linebacker under the league's personal conduct policy, Ryan was still willing to roll the dice.
"If we didn't think this young man or anybody else would be successful on the football field, in our locker room or in the community, he would not be here," Ryan said. "And I know I've said that before about other people, but I mean it. I think [owner Terry Pegula] has confidence in our beliefs, and in this case, [Bills general manager] Doug [Whaley] is showing a lot of faith in me as well. That we specifically, guys that have been with IK, believe that he can be successful here."
Added Ryan: "I do have supreme confidence in myself, especially when I know the individual. Some of these guys that have these so-called issues or whatever, everybody's got things. But if I know that person, and I feel confident in the fact that my locker room, that this guy will be successful in here, then yeah, I feel confident that he'll fit right in."
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(Photos from left: Brett Carlsen/Getty Images, AP Photo/File)
