It happened over the weekend.
But it came out on Tuesday due to the reporting of long-time Denver Broncos beatwriter Mike Klis
The very tragic news of Jets passing game coordinator Greg Knapp being serious injured in a bicycle accident.
“Thoughts are with former Broncos QB coach/current Jets pass specialist Greg Knapp. Heard from several players/coaches and confirmed with agent Jeff Sperbeck that coach Knapp is hospitalized in critical condition with serious injuries from bicycle accident over weekend in California,” tweeted Klis of 9News in Denver.
Knapp, was a 49ers assistant for many years, before several other stops. Long-time 49ers beatwriter, Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area, knows Knapp well.
“Greg Knapp, a former 49ers and Raiders assistant, makes his offseason home in the East Bay. One of the absolute best people I’ve met in this line of work. Communicated with him recently, and he was so excited about future with Jets. Thinking of Greg and his family.”- Matt Maiocco
Klis reached out to the San Ramon police department, and got a statement from Lt. Tami Williams on what happened:
“I can confirm the cyclist was Greg Knapp. There has not been a change in status from the hospital and no other details are available regarding the cause of the collision. The collision is still under investigation. When new facts are releasable, we will post them on our social media accounts.”
Knapp’s agent said the driver swerved into the bike lane.
Obviously a very tragic story.
Now obviously Knapp has only been here a few months, so nobody in the New York media got to know him very well, including me, but he seems like a great guy, He went out of his way to walk by the beat reporters at an OTA practice to say hello. And then when he addressed the media in minicamp, he was informative, classy and charming.
So even with limited exposure to the man, you could see he’s a special guy.
I don’t want to get in football too much here, because that is so unimportant right now, and it really doesn’t matter in the big picture.
But just to point out how important this guy is to the Jets’ football operation. As we pointed out a few weeks ago, Knapp attached at the hip with Zach Wilson all spring, and is the Jets QB coach even though he has the title of passing game coordinator. He’s the quarterback coach and Rob Calabrese is the assistant QB coach, even though he has the title of QB coach.
Seemingly every time Wilson came off the field after a play, he talked to Knapp.
This isn’t important now, but just trying to inform about Knapp’s role.
But now the most important thing is Knapp’s health.
What a terrible tragedy.
“Greg is such an amazing individual it is hard to imagine the challenge facing him and his family,” said Robert Saleh. “Greg’s fun nature, kind disposition, and wealth of knowledge has allowed him to make genuine connections with all of our coaches, players and staff since he has been here. I ask that you keep him in your prayers as we all pull for him to recover from this horrific accident.”
July 20, 2021
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