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This is an example of the bull feathers that go on around here.
Teddy Bridgewater met with the New York media for the first time today.
Well, I shouldn’t say New York media, that makes the group sound bigger than it was.
This was a conference call with some reporters, mostly Jets beat reporters.
And it didn’t take long for Bridgewater to get coaxed into clickbait that became a national story.
Bridgewater was asked today by somebody whether he’ll be able to partake in OTA’s and minicamp, and he wouldn’t answer.
“That’s something I’m not comfortable talking about right now,” Bridgewater said. “I’m pretty sure that’ll be a discussion that I have with the training staff. We’ll come up with a plan moving forward.”
This has turned into a big story.
Headline – “Teddy Bridgewater ‘not comfortable’ talking about status of his injured knee.”
Headline – “Jets QB Teddy Bridgewater gave this cryptic answer about the health of his knee.”
This is much ado about nothing and I will tell you why.
First off, he passed his Jets’ physical and was given a $500,000 guarantee.
You might not think that is a lot of money by NFL terms, but if you have a serious question mark about a guy’s health, you don’t guarantee any money – you give him a “make-good” contract.
I will give you an example of that I’m talking about. Last off-season, the Jets signed talented, but off-injured wide receiver Marquess Wilson, a former Chicago Bear.
They gave him a one-year deal for $775,000 with no guaranteed money. He got hurt in training camp and was sent packing. The Jets didn’t owe him a dime.
So what is going on here?
Simple.
Jets players are told by Todd Bowles, and reminded by the team’s PR officials, that they aren’t allowed to talk to the media about health matters.
I will give you an example.
Last year the Jets long-snapper Thomas Hennessy suffered a concussion in Denver.
When he came back, I was interested in how it happened. I didn’t see the actual collision. He refused to answer the question. He’s a very nice guy,
but he said he couldn’t talk about it.
I wasn’t even asking him about how he felt. I asked him how it happened.
This kind of scenario happens a lot – you ask player about injuries, and they tell you they can’t talk about it.
What happened with Bridgewater today was just him following the rules.
But you know what, the Jets trainer John “Unchained” Mellody might put him on a pitch count in the spring. While he’s basically back to 100 percent (he did appear in a game late last season), he did suffer a very severe knee injury, so why would you want to overwork him in the spring? Would that be bright?
But nonetheless, his answer today isn’t a big story.
He was abiding by the Jets player rules in regards to talking about health-related issues with the media.
But what Teddy found out today, is what we all know – so many things around here are blown out of proportion.
After all, if you don’t blow it out of proportion, are you going to get clicks?
March 21, 2018
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