New York Jets head coach Todd Bowles has insisted that his opinion of Geno Smith has not been changed by the incident which saw the quarterback sustain a broken jaw.
The 24-year-old suffered the injury after he was punched in the Jets' locker room by then-teammate Ikemefuna Enemkpali in a dispute over $600 (£380) owed to the linebacker.
Despite initial criticism from Bowles and teammate Darrelle Revis, the coach is adamant that his opinion of the character of Smith has not been altered.
"No, I still feel the same way about him," Bowles told WFAN. "We've just got to get him healthy and get him some reps, and we're going to pick up where we left off.
"Hopefully, he doesn't lose too much mentally, but you've got to be out there to throw, so we he gets back, we've got get him as many chances as we can."
Smith could miss up to 10 weeks due to the injury.
