New York Jets October of discontent finally ends
By Ed Stein
Kelechi Osemele
The handling of Kelechi Osemele‘s shoulder injury was botched from the get go. In short, he thought he needed to have an operation and Jets wanted him to play through it. He opted for the procedure so New York fined the guard for missing practice and then terminated his contract on October 26, for conduct detrimental to the team.
How this situation blew up for all involved is unfortunate. There had to be a more amicable solution that didn’t make the team seem like they were unsympathetic to player injuries. It wasn’t until this Tuesday that GM Joe Douglas said anything about the situation to the media. This is an except of his comments from the Daily News.
"“As an organization, we respect and follow the league’s processes and procedures. So just moving forward, we’re not going to comment on the specifics as it pertains to the situation. The one thing that I will clarify: The safety and well-being of all of our players is paramount. It’s always a top priority for us. We have a great staff. They work together and they make sure that care and safety happens for everybody.”"
The matter is now part of a grievance filed by the NFL Players Association against the NFL on behalf of Osemele. That issue centers around another $5M, Osemele had remaining on his contract when he was cut from the team. Again, there had to be a better way to resolve this.
Adam Gase – Le’Veon Bell
This issues between the head coach and his star running back go back to training camp. Gase never wanted Le’Veon Bell, but former GM Mike McCagnon did. Stuck with the mercurial rusher, Gase has not found a way to spring Bell, constantly running him between the tackles. The disfunction got so bad after Bell had just nine carries in Jacksonville that the two had to have a private “clear the air meeting” on Wednesday.