Kelechi Osemele has shoulder surgery; Jets fine him for unexcused absence

Frank Schwab
·NFL writer
Updated

The New York Jets are simply not going to find anything resembling the high road in the Kelechi Osemele situation.

The guard has a torn labrum in his shoulder. When he got second and third opinions, doctors recommended surgery. The team insisted he could play through it and didn’t authorize him to have surgery. Osemele said he would get surgery on Friday with or without the team’s permission.

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Osemele got the surgery that was recommended. And when he didn’t show up to the facility on Friday, the Jets marked him as an unexcused absence and continued to fine him.

What a mess.

Osemele opts for surgery

Rich Cimini of ESPN said Osemele did not show up at the Jets facility on Friday due to the surgery.

This has been a pretty awful look for the Jets all around. The union has stepped in, saying they support Osemele. The Jets looked even worse when they sent blank MRI results for Osemele’s second opinion, then called it an “honest mistake.” They also have said they’re certain Osemele suffered the injury with his former team, the Oakland Raiders.

It had been reported that the Jets are fining Osemele the maximum allowed under the collective-bargaining agreement. That’s $579,000, or the amount of his 17 game checks. It just doesn’t seem worth all the bad PR the Jets are getting on this story.

New York Jets offensive guard Kelechi Osemele (70) had surgery Friday, as he promised. (Getty Images)
New York Jets offensive guard Kelechi Osemele (70) had surgery Friday, as he promised. (Getty Images)

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Frank Schwab is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdown.corner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @YahooSchwab

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