This has nothing to do with the 49ers, but I can't help but post this anyway. The New York Jets appear to be looking at a new starting quarterback for the near future. According to multiple reports, linebacker Ikemefuna Enemkpali sucker-punched quarterback Geno Smith in the locker room. The punch resulted in a broken jaw that could cost Smith 6-10 weeks. Enemkpali has been released by the Jets.
You really cannot make up this kind of insanity. Isn't it nice once in a while for another team to be dealing with the sideshows?
There have been a few different fights in training camp, including Cam Newton on Monday. Players have been practicing for a couple weeks now, and it is safe to say they are getting antsy. Jim Tomsula has actually gotten a chance to discuss training camp fights a couple times this week. There were some rumors of a fight between Colin Kaepernick and Aldon Smith at practice, but that has been shot down by just about everybody. Over the weekend, that opened the door for a question to Tomsula about his stance on fighting in training camp:
"I'm more of a middle ground guy, if I've got to put it in a category. Do I realize that there is the potential for something like that in a physical sport when you're hitting the same guys over and over and over for two weeks straight? Yeah. Does that mean he's a terrible guy? No. I've been associated with teams where we fought every single day in training camp, and we have a hard time winning games. I've been with teams where we didn't have any fights in training camp, and we didn't win any games. I've been with teams where the opposites happened, no fights, and we're either in a championship game in Europe or here. So, I don't know that that has any bearing. It all depends on who's on your team. What are those characteristics, but I don't think that has a bearing on winning or losing and I know that not being able to control your brain and your actions at a critical moment when your emotions are high can cost you a game. That's what I do know and that's what I talk about."
Tomsula then was asked about it last night on his new weekly segment on KNBR. He seems to recognize tempers will get heated, and he views himself primarily as a traffic cop making sure people stay on task.
I mean, we're out there and Tom you would know this, you're in a training camp setting, you're living, sleeping, eating, going to the bathroom, taking showers with the same people every day. They start to rub you a little bit raw. Then you gotta get out on the field, and now we're going to get into a collision spot. And we're banging each other and fighting for a job. So, emotions are raw. I've been on teams, I had to talk about this the other day, I've bee on teams where my gosh, we fought two, three times a day, and it didn't equate to wins. I've been on teams where we fought two, three times a day, and we had winning seasons. I've been on teams where we didn't fight at all and won. I really believe it's the make-up of the team, in terms of, do they know each other.
Right now, we're talking about you got Staley and Boone there, playing on one side of the line, and they're going against guys that they've been going against for a few years. So, there is a relationship built there, but again, I stand where I stand, because most of that stuff is going to come out of the trenches. And when it starts getting heated, and I make a joke that I stand there with a firehose or a bucket of water, and I try to re-direct conversation, or throw some water on the sparks. Just to try and get it going to the next player. Because ultimately, when we get into a game, if you can't control that, it's going to cost us a penalty. So we have to have it in place where we can control it.
Oh, and here are your AFC East quarterbacks:
As of now, the starting Week 1 AFC East quarterbacks are Ryan Fitzpatrick, Jimmy Garoppolo, Ryan Tannehill, and [insert Bills corpse here].
— Ryan Nanni (@celebrityhottub) August 11, 2015