Ken Schroy Posted December 21, 2016 Share Posted December 21, 2016 Jets don’t have a Snapchat problem — they have a locker room problem By George Willis It was supposed to be a harmless “chat” between friends. Kickoff for Saturday’s game pitting the Jets against the Dolphins was three hours away. So when Jets safety Rontez Miles handed defensive lineman Sheldon Richardson his cell phone to Snapchat with a friend Richardson wasn’t expecting it go viral. “It wasn’t supposed to be out there in general,” Richardson explained on Tuesday of the snap. “It was just conversating with a friend, me and Rontez. That’s all it is.” What got out there was a video of Richardson calling women “ho’s” laced with other profanity. With the NFL’s sensitivity to domestic violence and how its players treat women, Richardson’s snap cast another dark cloud over the Jets, Richardson’s reliability and the organization’s culture under head coach Todd Bowles. The Jets spent most of Tuesday balancing between denouncing Richardson’s snap and downplaying its level of severity. “We don’t condone what he did,” Bowles said. “He didn’t go out and rob a bank.” – ADVERTISEMENT –– Still, it couldn’t have come at a worse time for Bowles and the Jets, who are 4-10 heading into their Christmas Eve game at New England. Richardson’s social media “gaffe,” as Bowles called it, only makes the Jets look even more unprofessional, an image the head coach must clean up if given a third year. Going back to Geno Smith having his jaw broken in a locker-room brawl, the Jets can’t keep from making themselves look bad. Richardson, who missed the first four games of the 2015 season after failing a drug test, began this year with a one-game suspension for reckless driving. In Week 9, Richardson and Mo Wilkerson were benched for the first quarter of the Jets’ loss at Miami, reportedly for missing multiple team meetings. There were reported altercations earlier this season between Darrelle Revis and Brandon Marshall, and Marshall and Richardson. Now Richardson, who was named a fifth alternate to the Pro Bowl, is Snapchatting before a game. It never looks good for a team and a coach when its best players are in the news for the wrong reasons. That has to change even though Bowles doesn’t think it has anything to do with locker-room culture. “There are going to be five things that happen every day as a head coach that you’re not prepared for,” Bowles said. “You deal with them and you move on. You don’t let them linger. You take care of them swiftly and you keep it moving.” The Jets aren’t moving in the right direction, having lost five of their past six games. A priority during the offseason could be shopping Richardson, who is scheduled to make $8 million next year before becoming an unrestricted free agent in 2018. But his multiple off-the-field issues certainly haven’t enhanced his trade value. Whatever discipline Richardson drew was kept “in-house,” though there remains a possibility he could be benched for a portion of Saturday’s game. “When you do wrong, you do wrong,” Richardson said. “I’ll take my punishment.” Actually, Richardson doesn’t think he did anything wrong. He was using social media well ahead of the league-mandated freeze 1 1/2 hours before game time. The language he used in the snap? Well that’s just talk among friends. “You all send videos inappropriately to y’all friends, too,” Richardson suggested. You would like to think Richardson would be all about the game on Saturday, but in today’s era of social media, maybe that is unrealistic. Whether Richardson goes or stays, Bowles needs to demand more professionalism and accountability from his players next season. There needs to be caution flags waving before these wrong decisions are made. Otherwise, it shows a lack of respect for Bowles, a notion Richardson discounts. “He knows me,” Richardson said. “He knows I didn’t mean no harm by what I was doing.” There was plenty of harm. It harmed Richardson’s image, and it harmed the team’s image. Improving the Jets in 2017 must start with a more professional culture. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JetPotato Posted December 21, 2016 Share Posted December 21, 2016 So you're saying they're not "Mangini Guys"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RESNewYork Posted December 21, 2016 Share Posted December 21, 2016 never do this but that article was absolute horse crap. Talking of culture and lumping the whole team into the actions of a few. Get off your high horse George. You are what's wrong with the media today Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beerfish Posted December 21, 2016 Share Posted December 21, 2016 We will learn just a ton about this front office and coaching staff this off season, if they do not clear out the attitude problems who have taken advantage of the coach they are doomed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OH THE PAIN Posted December 21, 2016 Share Posted December 21, 2016 The problem here is that Sheldon STILL thinks he has done nothing wrong and Bowles can not change that . We must get rid of this low life before he contaminates more of the team . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbatesman Posted December 21, 2016 Share Posted December 21, 2016 Take that, people who said "the Jets have a Snapchat problem"! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremy2020 Posted December 21, 2016 Share Posted December 21, 2016 gee, you think a team that had a nobody punch the starting QB in the face and knock him out has a locker room problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PepPep Posted December 21, 2016 Share Posted December 21, 2016 Look. Richardson was always that kind of guy. He's like a problem child. And because of that, he will probably get traded this off season. The Geno incident was IK acting like a thug. There's no other way to describe it. Nothing Geno did deserved that. Nothing the coaching staff could have done or preached would have changed what happened, IMO. IK was IMMEDIATELY dismissed. IMO, this is a few bad apples that tend to be that much more visible and 'active' when the team is doing poorly than when the team is winning. The reported player arguments between Revis and Marshall, etc. This is all media BS. Players argue with each other all the time like that. Often times there is no malice and they are best friends the next day. Nobody knows what they were talking about, so assuming this was some kind of altercation that hurt locker room dynamic is all conjecture. And if the team was winning and both players were playing well the media would simply spin it as vet payers 'motivating' each other. I DO believe teams can quit on a coach. And I'm not sure that has happened to Bowles, but if it did, its not the kind of locker room problem this article is inferring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jetdawgg Posted December 21, 2016 Share Posted December 21, 2016 Who else here would make a video with those words at your work site? Completely unprofessional. No excuses Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j4jets Posted December 21, 2016 Share Posted December 21, 2016 As @joewilly12 once said, "Fire Bowles". Seriously, how is he not fired already? You fire them in the middle of a lost season and see how the interim coach takes control. Use those 4-5 wks as an evaluation period. This organization needs some hardcore balls in the FO that can control its idiot coaches who can then control their dumbass underperforming garbage players. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoBowles Posted December 21, 2016 Share Posted December 21, 2016 1 hour ago, jeremy2020 said: gee, you think a team that had a nobody punch the starting QB in the face and knock him out has a locker room problem. Ehhh, I would estimate at least 75% of the teams have multiple guys on their roster who would want to punch Geno out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BurnleyJet Posted December 21, 2016 Share Posted December 21, 2016 4 minutes ago, NoBowles said: Ehhh, I would estimate at least 75% of the teams have multiple guys on their roster who would want to punch Geno out. Sounds like Team MVP type guys to me.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rangerous Posted December 21, 2016 Share Posted December 21, 2016 4 hours ago, Ken Shroy said: Jets don’t have a Snapchat problem — they have a locker room problem By George Willis It was supposed to be a harmless “chat” between friends. Kickoff for Saturday’s game pitting the Jets against the Dolphins was three hours away. So when Jets safety Rontez Miles handed defensive lineman Sheldon Richardson his cell phone to Snapchat with a friend Richardson wasn’t expecting it go viral. “It wasn’t supposed to be out there in general,” Richardson explained on Tuesday of the snap. “It was just conversating with a friend, me and Rontez. That’s all it is.” What got out there was a video of Richardson calling women “ho’s” laced with other profanity. With the NFL’s sensitivity to domestic violence and how its players treat women, Richardson’s snap cast another dark cloud over the Jets, Richardson’s reliability and the organization’s culture under head coach Todd Bowles. The Jets spent most of Tuesday balancing between denouncing Richardson’s snap and downplaying its level of severity. “We don’t condone what he did,” Bowles said. “He didn’t go out and rob a bank.” – ADVERTISEMENT –– Still, it couldn’t have come at a worse time for Bowles and the Jets, who are 4-10 heading into their Christmas Eve game at New England. Richardson’s social media “gaffe,” as Bowles called it, only makes the Jets look even more unprofessional, an image the head coach must clean up if given a third year. Going back to Geno Smith having his jaw broken in a locker-room brawl, the Jets can’t keep from making themselves look bad. Richardson, who missed the first four games of the 2015 season after failing a drug test, began this year with a one-game suspension for reckless driving. In Week 9, Richardson and Mo Wilkerson were benched for the first quarter of the Jets’ loss at Miami, reportedly for missing multiple team meetings. There were reported altercations earlier this season between Darrelle Revis and Brandon Marshall, and Marshall and Richardson. Now Richardson, who was named a fifth alternate to the Pro Bowl, is Snapchatting before a game. It never looks good for a team and a coach when its best players are in the news for the wrong reasons. That has to change even though Bowles doesn’t think it has anything to do with locker-room culture. “There are going to be five things that happen every day as a head coach that you’re not prepared for,” Bowles said. “You deal with them and you move on. You don’t let them linger. You take care of them swiftly and you keep it moving.” The Jets aren’t moving in the right direction, having lost five of their past six games. A priority during the offseason could be shopping Richardson, who is scheduled to make $8 million next year before becoming an unrestricted free agent in 2018. But his multiple off-the-field issues certainly haven’t enhanced his trade value. Whatever discipline Richardson drew was kept “in-house,” though there remains a possibility he could be benched for a portion of Saturday’s game. “When you do wrong, you do wrong,” Richardson said. “I’ll take my punishment.” Actually, Richardson doesn’t think he did anything wrong. He was using social media well ahead of the league-mandated freeze 1 1/2 hours before game time. The language he used in the snap? Well that’s just talk among friends. “You all send videos inappropriately to y’all friends, too,” Richardson suggested. You would like to think Richardson would be all about the game on Saturday, but in today’s era of social media, maybe that is unrealistic. Whether Richardson goes or stays, Bowles needs to demand more professionalism and accountability from his players next season. There needs to be caution flags waving before these wrong decisions are made. Otherwise, it shows a lack of respect for Bowles, a notion Richardson discounts. “He knows me,” Richardson said. “He knows I didn’t mean no harm by what I was doing.” There was plenty of harm. It harmed Richardson’s image, and it harmed the team’s image. Improving the Jets in 2017 must start with a more professional culture. willis is a moron. that doesn't mean what he says isn't true but nobody can win with this clown's reporting. either sheldon is an unprofessional moron or, if bowles shuts him down, then he's a heartless task master. frankly bowles shouldn't allow such bs in the locker room at any time. and sheldon should know better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JiFtheOracle Posted December 21, 2016 Share Posted December 21, 2016 "He didnt rob a bank" - are you ******* kidding me? Is that what it takes, Todd? As long as they're not robbing banks, we're good? Holy **** I hate this team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jack48 Posted December 21, 2016 Share Posted December 21, 2016 12 minutes ago, rangerous said: willis is a moron. that doesn't mean what he says isn't true but nobody can win with this clown's reporting. either sheldon is an unprofessional moron or, if bowles shuts him down, then he's a heartless task master. frankly bowles shouldn't allow such bs in the locker room at any time. and sheldon should know better. Right. The fact that Sheldon had no trepidation about doing this says something about Bowles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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