The Jets named the winners of their team awards on Friday morning and wide receiver Brandon Marshall was selected as their most valuable player.
Marshall’s 101 catches and 13 touchdowns make him a very worthy choice, but some fans have joked about another candidate being truly deserving of the honor. That candidate would be Bills defensive end IK Enemkpali, who was released by the Jets after breaking Geno Smith’s jaw with a punch over the summer.
That injury opened the door for Ryan Fitzpatrick to start at quarterback and Fitzpatrick’s play has been a big reason why the Jets are 10-5 and in position to make the playoffs with a victory over Enemkpali’s new team on Sunday. Enemkpali has heard people suggest he should be the team’s MVP, which neither surprises nor seems to amuse him much.
“Nobody knows if what I had done was going to deter whether Geno was going to play or not,” Enemkpali said, via the Buffalo News. “Nobody knows that exactly. In the league, it’s next man up. I mean, the Jets’ fans -- I was up there for a year -- they’re crazy. They say anything and they have no filter at all. So I’m not surprised.”
Enemkpali served a four-game suspension as a result of the punch and has 12 tackles in 10 games for the Bills during a season that he calls a “whirlwind.” Those filterless Jets fans might describe it differently, but plenty of them likely appreciate Enemkpali for throwing a punch that turned into the first domino of a winning season.
