Brandon Marshall says Geno Smith “did nothing wrong”

It became popular in some circles last week to blame Bears Eddie Goldman Elite Jersey Jets quarterback Geno Smith for the altercation that resulted in Smith getting his jaw broken. While not quite to the level of Axel Foley being charged with disturbing the peace after being thrown out of a window, the idea that Smith provoked a bone-snapping sucker punch seemed odd, to say the least.

Jets receiver Brandon Marshall apparently agrees.

“I was sitting right there and I would say this without going into too many details because we’ve already moved past it: Geno did nothing wrong,” Marshall said on FOX TV Monday morning, via Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News. “He did nothing wrong. . . . And that’s all I’m going to say about that because we have to move forward and I don’t want to be a distraction to our team, but Geno Smith did everything the right way.”

Of course, by merely expressing the opinion, Marshall creates a distraction for a team that is trying to move on from the incident — and that has had plenty of players telling the media under the cloak of anonymity that Smith got what he deserved. Still, it’s admirable that Marshall is willing to offer a clear, eyewitness statement on the situation and to attach his name to it.

“It was shocking,” Marshall said of the Chargers Craig Mager Elite Jersey incident. “I’m very disappointed. I feel bad for [Geno], because he was doing really good. But we have to move forward if we want to win. Geno knows that.”

Typically, a team has turmoil in the locker room regarding who the starting quarterback will be. In New York, the “schism” currently arises from whether the starting quarterback deserved to have his face rearranged.

So why are teammates not defending Smith?

“Because he’s young,” Marshall said. “He’s 24. It hasn’t been his team. He’s been in and out of the lineup the last couple years. There’s been a lot of question marks. But I don’t care about the past. I care about what he’s done this offseason and OTAs and in camp and leading up to that day. To me, he’s been a leader. He’s getting better at it. It wasn’t his team. He had to earn that and he still has to continue to earn that.”

It’ll be even harder to earn it if he’s on http://www.nflbrownsofficialshop.com/Authentic-Cameron-Erving-Jersey short-term IR to start the season, and if the belief continues to linger in the locker room that Smith bears any blame for his broken jaw.