Wilkerson’s time in green likely up
NEW YORK » Muhammad Wilkerson might have played his final snap for the Jets.
The star defensive end’s status with the team remained uncertain Monday after he was benched for the Jets’ game at New Orleans on Sunday .
Coach Todd Bowles acknowledged that Wilkerson was at the Jets’ facility in Florham Park, New Jersey, but would not say whether the 2011 first-round draft pick would practice or play this week.
“He’s in the building today,” Bowles said during a conference call. “We’re still working through things.”
Bowles added that it’s “an internal thing” that is still being discussed by several people, which likely includes the team’s front office.
“We haven’t worked through everything yet,” Bowles said, “but we’ll work through them and you guys will know when we make a decision.”
According to several published reports, Wilkerson was benched for being late to a team meeting on Friday. Bowles has refused to elaborate on the details of his decision to not have him travel to New Orleans.
Wilkerson has a history of tardiness and has faced previous discipline, including fines and benchings in games for one quarter.
“There will be a lot of people involved in this,” Bowles said.
The 28-year-old Wilkerson is the Jets’ highestpaid player and is in the middle of a five-year deal worth $86 million, which he signed in July 2016. His $16.75 million salary for next season would become fully guaranteed if he remains on New York’s roster by the third day of the league’s new year in March. So, it’s a near-certainty that the Jets will cut ties with Wilkerson at some point in the offseason, at the latest.
That money is also fully guaranteed against a serious injury — meaning, something that could sideline him all of next season.
So, that is very likely also a consideration being made by the Jets as they decide whether Wilkerson should play in the final two games of this season.
Bowles declined comment when asked how frustrating it is to him that things have reached this point with someone who had been one of the team’s top players.
“I’m kind of through talking about Mo,” the coach said. “If you guys got anything else, I’ll answer, but I’ve said all I have to say about that situation.”
Kerley cut
Jeremy Kerley’s second stint with the Jets is over.
The veteran wide receiver and punt returner was waived on Monday after he had been on a oneweek roster exemption following a four-game suspension for violating the NFL’s policy on performance enhancers.
Kerley was suspended by the league without pay on Nov. 6 after testing positive for Turinabol, an anabolic steroid. The 5-foot-9, 180-pound Kerley issued a statement at the time, saying he was “shocked” by the result of the test and insisted he has never used steroids. He added that he would fully investigate the matter because “I know that I have done nothing wrong.”
Kerley returned to the team and practiced last week, and reiterated that he didn’t knowingly ingest a performance enhancer. He added that he didn’t have time to investigate the situation, but jokingly said perhaps it was the work of “a ghost.”
“There’s a lot of ghosts around here,” Kerley said last Wednesday. “Maybe a ghost put it in me. I don’t know. You know the Ghost of Christmas Past? A ghost might have put it in me. I don’t know.”