Geno Smith's hopes for a breakout season with the New York Jets took a major blow Tuesday morning — to the jaw.
The quarterback will be sidelined at least six to 10 weeks with a broken jaw after being punched by teammate Ikemefuna Enemkpali in the locker room. Smith, entering his third season, will require surgery, Jets coach Todd Bowles announced in an impromptu news conference before practice.
Enemkpali, an outside linebacker in his second season, was immediately released by the Jets.
"[The altercation] had nothing to do with football," Bowles said. "It was something very childish, and he got cold-cocked, sucker-punched — whatever you want to call it — in the jaw."
Judge wants talks
A New York judge is urging the NFL, the players' union and Tom Brady to have last-minute settlement talks before a Wednesday hearing in the legal dispute over the superstar quarterback's four-game suspension for using underinflated footballs.
Judge Richard Berman on Tuesday ordered the sides to have "further good faith settlement efforts" before the first meeting since the sides took the scandal known as "Deflategate" to federal court.
Etc.
• Carolina quarterback Cam Newton is defending his role in a Monday scuffle with Panthers teammate Josh Norman after Norman stiff-armed him during an interception return. An angry Newton turned and ran down Norman near the goal line after the play had been blown dead by coaches. "I'm not going to let anyone dictate how I play," Newton said.
• NFL owners met in suburban Chicago on Tuesday to hear more about moving at least one team to the Los Angeles market. The Chargers and Raiders are proposing a stadium in Carson, and the Rams are looking to build a facility in Inglewood. At least one team will have to return to the market it tried to leave, but NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said "those are the circumstances as they are. You take a risk if you file for relocation of whether it'll be approved." Goodell expects the league to decide on a relocation fee this fall.
