New York Jets: Rex Ryan reunites with IK Enemkpali

The New York Jets no longer have Rex Ryan as their head coach, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t still involved with make headlines with the Jets.

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It was a very strange incident in the Jets’ locker room on Tuesday. Geno Smith was punched by then teammate IK Enemkpali over a $600 debt for a plane ticket. Enemkpali landed a good punch on Smith, as Smith had his jaw broken and will be missing the first 6-10 weeks of the season.

After the fight, Enemkpali was cut by the Jets understandably, and that figured to be the end of the strange story.

To spice up the story one day after the fight, Enemkpali was claimed by Ryan and the Buffalo Bills.

Enemkpali was drafted in the sixth-round by the Jets in 2014, and it seems like Ryan liked him a lot in his one season as his coach.

“Obviously it was a terrible thing that happened, and IK made a mistake there’s no question about that,” Ryan told reporters at Bills training camp. “But instead of listening to this person or that person, we had IK last year. A lot of us were around IK and he was a good teammate. It’s as simple as that.”

Enemkpali had some baggage coming into the NFL, as he was arrested for punching an undercover cop in college. Ryan and the Bills have given chances to other players, as Richie Incognito and Percy Harvin were both signed this offseason despite having issues with teammates in the past.

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“Nothing justifies hitting somebody, and I recognize that it was a mistake, but I also believe that he’s going to learn from it,” Ryan said to Brian Costello of the New York Post. “We’ll give him a chance to compete. There’s no guarantee that this young man makes this team. But I do have supreme confidence in myself, especially when I know the individual. That’s where that comes from. I feel good. I’ve been around IK for a year.”

“I think when we went in Doug [Whaley, Bills GM] and myself talked to Terry [Pegula, Bills owner] today, and Doug is leaning on me about this,” Ryan said to Costello. “Obviously the Bills did their research when this young man came out, as we did when I was with the Jets. We researched him, and this isn’t just a bad guy. I think he made a mistake, clearly made a mistake, but I just know first-hand being around this young man for a year that I feel very confident that he’ll be just fine here.”

Enemkpali is under investigation by the NFL for the incident and may be suspended for some amount of time in 2015.

Many people may believe that this was Ryan looking to stick it to the Jets, but that is something that only Ryan knows. For now, Ryan’s presence is still very much felt in New York, as the saga in New York continues.

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