Ryan Clark: Geno Smith 'was rather smug' about not paying back IK Enemkpali

Geno Smith's smugness over an unpaid debt was partly to blame for the locker-room altercation that left the New York Jets quarterback with a broken jaw, ESPN analyst and former NFL safety Ryan Clark suggested Wednesday.

Appearing on the "Mike & Mike" radio show, Clark confirmed reports that the scuffle was over a $600 plane ticket linebacker IK Enemkpali purchased for Smith to appear at his football camp. Smith failed to show after someone close to him was allegedly killed in a motorcycle crash.

Clark said he spoke to Jets players inside the locker room to get their accounts of what happened and was told that during the argument, Smith put his finger in Enemkpali's face and said, "You're not going to do anything about it."

"I've dealt with IK a lot," Clark said, as transcribed by Mike Rose of Newsday. "This guy is really tight about money. He really is. Where as I've seen other players have this happen and kind of just move on from it, he couldn't. A lot of people are saying you don't punch a guy over that amount of money."

Enemkpali, a sixth-round pick in last year's draft, was released by the Jets almost immediately after the altercation.

"It became about the fact that Geno wasn't necessarily apologetic and being in a way remorseful about the money when saying he was going to pay IK back and he didn't," Clark said. "He was rather smug about it. These guys got into (it) earlier on in camp about this money and so the argument continued into (Tuesday). These guys were in each other's face."

Clark didn't excuse Enemkpali's actions, but also disputed that he delivered a sucker punch to Smith.

"These were two men in an altercation," Clark said. "Was Geno prepared to fight? Probably not. But in a sense of a sucker punch, two guys arguing and one guy getting punched doesn't equate to a sucker punch to me."

Clark also said he spoke to Enemkpali, who was "extremely apologetic" about what happened.

The linebacker was claimed off waivers by the Buffalo Bills on Wednesday, reuniting him with head coach Rex Ryan and defensive coordinator Dennis Thurman.