JUST CUT ME! Osemele tells Jets he’s getting surgery on shoulder, even though team hasn’t signed off on it
Kelechi Osemele’s standoff with the Jets took another strange turn when the two-time Pro Bowl guard revealed Wednesday that after getting a third opinion this week, he will have surgery Friday to repair a torn labrum. Osemele also said that general manager Joe Douglas admitted that the team inadvertently sent blank and wrong MRI images to doctors when the player was seeking an independent second opinion. To make matters weirder, Osemele conveyed that the Jets team doctor said that he should have surgery now if he’s in pain. However, the Jets had yet to authorize the surgery as of Wednesday afternoon.
“The conflict is that the team does not think that I’m in pain,” said Osemele, who is getting fined the maximum amount by the team every day that he doesn’t practice.
It’s a jarring statement given the heightened importance on player safety. Osemele has filed a grievance to recoup the money lost through fines. He had a conference call with NFL Players Association officials Monday to chart a course of action.
“It’s ethically and morally wrong,” Osemele said of denying surgery. “They’re saying that pain is the No. 1 thing right now. So, if you can bear it and you can get through it, then yes. But I can’t.”
“I’m 30 years old,” Osemele added. “Let’s be realistic about this. I’m in a lot of pain. My tolerance isn’t probably the same as it used to be… But I can’t go. I just can’t go. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do in this situation. I can lift my arm. It just hurts.”
The Jets declined comment Wednesday when asked about Osemele’s assertions. The organization has inexplicably created a PR mess through their actions and public silence. Adam Gase declined comment on Tuesday. The team declined public comment last week, while a PR official disparaged Osemele through back channels, the ultimate amateur move by a poorly run outfit.
Osemele flew to Boston Tuesday to get a third opinion after the Jets viewed the second opinion as nebulous. (The second opinion concluded that surgery was predicated on symptoms). Osemele said that he first noticed pain on August 5 before it “increasingly got worse.”
The Jets have leaned on the “pre-existing injury” crutch without acknowledging this fundamental (and obvious) truth: Pre-existing injuries can worsen.
The Jets gave Osemele a Toradol pain injection before the first three games without listing him on the injury report. Although Osemele conceded that Toradol is commonly used by players in pain, he made it clear that its effectiveness wore off at some point in the first half of the Jets’ Week 3 blowout loss in Philly.
“A lot of guys play through injuries and you need that to play thru an injury,” Osemele said about Toradol. “But once it stops working and it doesn’t do anything for you anymore, then you’re at a point where it’s like, ‘Now what do I do?’ Do I take Vicodin? Where is the line? How much should a player play through pain? What is the limit? Is there a limit? Am I supposed to take Toradol every day? Does my health not matter?”
Osemele said that he’ll need 4-6 months to rehab and that he “100 percent” wants to play next year. He was also smart enough to acknowledge that he will be cut after the season.
Osemele said that his benching had nothing to do with his decision to want surgery now, citing that he wanted to go under the knife before a switch was made during the Week 4 bye.
He also confirmed a report that the organization didn’t initially send independent doctors the proper MRI images when the player sought a second opinion.
“Douglas told me that was a mistake,” Osemele said. “It wasn’t intentional. They were just blank. And then the wrong one was sent. So, it was just a series of trying to get the MRI and it just not coming together. But it eventually did get put together.”
It was a microcosm of just how much the Jets have botched this entire situation.
Osemele spoke with candor and calm amid what he described as a “slightly disrespectful” situation. He handled the matter like a professional, while his employer essentially called him a liar.
The Jets, meanwhile, stayed true to what they are.