Oakland Raiders: Donald Penn Delivers Warning After Geno Smith Incident
By Kevin Saito
Oakland Raiders offensive tackle Donald Penn has seen his fair share of quarterbacks taking a hit. What he hasn’t seen though, is his fair share of quarterbacks taking a hit so hard that their jaw breaks in two different places.
And he sent out a warning that if anybody had given thought to giving second year quarterback Derek Carr the Geno Smith treatment, they should probably give it a second – and possibly a third and a fourth – thought.
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In the wake of the fight – can it be considered a fight if only one punch was thrown? – in the New York Jets’ locker room, quarterback Geno Smith was left with a busted jaw that required surgery and will keep him out of action for at least the next six to ten weeks.
And the man who channeled his inner Ronda Rousey and threw the punch, linebacker IK Enemkpali, was temporarily left without a job. Though new Buffalo Bills HC Rex Ryan corrected that rather quickly and set up what should be an interesting reunion when the Bills and the Jets get together for the first time in November.
When news of the fight-esque incident spread around the league, it was met with a lot of mixed reactions. Actually, it was met with mixed reactions within the Jets’ own locker room where few players have come to Smith’s defense, and some saying he deserved it.
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But prior to practice on Wednesday, Carr and wide receiver Michael Crabtree were hamming it up for the team camera when they posed for a shot that made it appear the receiver was giving Carr the Smith treatment.
It was all just for laughs of course, but when asked about it by a reporter, Carr himself shared his thoughts on the matter.
"“I just never think that should happen. I never thought that would happen. Around here, we just try and build a great relationship with everybody to where those kinds of things don’t happen. Obviously there’s going to be tension sometimes on the football field and things like that. But, there’s, you know, we just feel like that shouldn’t happen here.”"
Despite the fact that he is just 24 years old and is just now entering his second year in the league, Carr commands that respect from his teammates who are all too willing to give it to him. He is a leader, he is genuine, and he does not have the arrogance others in his position might have. That has earned him the love and respect of his teammates.
And nowhere was that love and respect on display more than when Penn, in the wake of the Smith/Enemkpali fight-ish incident, posted a picture to his Instagram account that was captioned with a quote he delivered to San Jose Mercury writer Tim Kawakami.
The quote attached to the photo of himself with Carr on the field says:
"“If someone did that to Carr, they’d have to see me next. And then probably the rest of the O-line. That would never happen here. I’m not worried about that.”"
Carr has to be feeling pretty good about his situation as Oakland’s starting quarterback. And he has to be feeling even better knowing he’s got a massive wall of humanity led by Donald Penn standing right behind him.