FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — A dejected Calvin Pace stood outside the Jets’ training complex on Tuesday evening, valiantly trying to make sense of how another black cloud had suddenly appeared over the team.
Hours earlier, the team’s starting quarterback, Geno Smith, had been punched by a teammate, breaking his jaw. The Jets announced Smith would be out 6 to 10 weeks, and that the player who had punched him, linebacker Ikemefuna Enemkpali, was now an ex-Jet, cut immediately by the first-year coach, Todd Bowles.
For the Jets, a season that has not begun has been turned on its head.