PHILADELPHIA — With just 10 days to go before the Jets’ season opener, the team is dealing with a situation that just keeps getting messier with cornerback Dimitri Patterson.
The suspended cornerback blasted the team’s decision-makers Thursday, hours before the Jets’ 37-7 loss to the Eagles in their preseason finale. Patterson basically called general manager John Idzik and coach Rex Ryan liars in a statement to ESPN.
Patterson, who missed the team’s 35-24 loss to the Giants last Friday, said the Jets are lying about him being AWOL for 48 hours last weekend. Idzik and Ryan said Sunday that they were unable to speak to Patterson for two days.
The Jets brass also said Patterson’s agent, Drew Rosenhaus, did not know where his client was when they reached him. The Jets suspended Patterson through next Monday, making him eligible to return for the team’s season opener. They also are believed to have fined him, but they would not announce any additional punishment.
“As it relates to my whereabouts and me missing for 48 hours without being seen or heard from me or my representative is completely false,” Patterson said in the statement. “My agent reached out to the Jets organization multiple times several hours prior to Friday night’s game.”
Idzik declined to comment through a team spokesman. After the loss to the Eagles, Ryan had nothing to say about Patterson.
“We’ll address that at the appropriate time,” Ryan said.
Several of Patterson’s teammates said privately he would not be welcomed back in the locker room, especially after smearing Ryan.
There have been multiple rumors about what caused Patterson’s disappearance, including his unhappiness with the team’s depth chart. Patterson was a projected starter, but injuries caused him to miss much of training camp and Ryan said Patterson would not have started against the Giants.
Patterson denied he was upset with his role.
“My commitment to the Jets organization and to my teammates has never been an issue and never will be an issue,” he said in the statement. “As it relates to the rumors about my frustration in regards to the depth chart is totally and completely false. In nine years I have never had control over the depth chart.”
It would be surprising if the Jets did not cut Patterson now. Even though they are woefully thin at cornerback, how can they tolerate being called liars by one of their players? It also seems impossible Patterson could ever win back the trust of his teammates and coaches.
The Jets may be reluctant to ditch Patterson because they gave him a $1 million signing bonus that may be hard for them to recoup. It would seem they would have a case under the “forfeitable breach” provision in the collective bargaining agreement, since Patterson skipped a preseason game. Two league sources said the Jets could try to reclaim the money, but an arbitrator likely would side with Patterson.
The Patterson mess just adds to the team’s issues at cornerback and makes Idzik’s decision to pass on big-ticket corners in free agency look even worse. The team signed Patterson after letting Antonio Cromartie go, deciding against bringing Darrelle Revis back and failing to land Vontae Davis or Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, who signed with the Colts and Giants, respectively.
The Jets had Patterson and Dee Milliner penciled in as their starters for the season. Milliner suffered a high left ankle sprain in training camp and is in jeopardy of missing the season opener.
The team also lost third-round pick Dexter McDougle for the season to a torn ACL in his left knee.
After the injuries to Milliner and McDougle, the Jets moved safety Antonio Allen to cornerback, but he sustained a concussion last week against the Giants and has been out of practice this week.
At the moment, Kyle Wilson, Darrin Walls, Ellis Lankster and LeQuan Lewis are the team’s top healthy and available cornerbacks. They could pick up someone else this weekend when teams make their roster cuts, but it is doubtful they can find anyone who can make an impact.