Palladino: Time For Jets To Jettison Troubled Anderson
By Ernie Palladino
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Robby Anderson doesn't get it, and probably never will. Which is why the Jets should give it to him.
The ax, that is.
For all the good feelings that surrounded what would have been considered a grand 5-11 failure for the Jets under any other circumstances, Anderson threw them all away last week with his second arrest in seven months.
Not content to pin the speedometer needle at 105 in a 45 mph zone and then allegedly resist arrest, he allegedly took it the extra step by threatening a sexual attack on the arresting officer's wife.
Classy kid.
The resulting nine-count (two felonies) indictment dovetailed nicely with his previous arrest in May that carried with it a felony charge for resisting arrest with violence and obstruction of justice.
That trial was held over until after football season.
In other words, the justice system did him a favor by allowing him to play.
The NFL probably won't offer the same courtesy. Anderson should expect some sort of league-mandated suspension for violation of its personal conduct policy.
The Jets should take it a step further.
They should get rid of the man-child, and the sooner the better.
Actually, he's not a kid. Anderson is 24, well beyond the age of youthful immaturity. Kids do stupid things at 18. Being stupid at Anderson's age just makes you a bad guy. And as anyone who has followed the Jets the past few years knows, they need another miscreant like a hole in the head.
Todd Bowles might have a different opinion. Anderson's emergence this season means losing him would leave Bowles' offense with just Jermaine Kearse as a quality receiving option (the jury is still out on injured Quincy Enunwa). Anderson wasn't all that far off when, after scoring a second touchdown during the 35-27 loss to the Panthers, he turned to the sideline cameras and begged for Pro Bowl votes.
Bad timing and self-serving statements aside, Anderson did grab 63 passes for 941 yards and seven touchdowns. But the former factors are kind of the point. Hunting medals while your teammates are going down with the ship points to a flawed personality.
So does launching one's helmet downfield for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty in the final, desperate moments of a close loss to Miami.
And then there's the off-the-field stuff.
Sheldon Richardson had a few things going on himself, including a high-speed joy ride with a child, pot, and a loaded gun in the car. The Jets eventually got rid of him, trading the defensive lineman to Seattle for Kearse.
Jettisoning Anderson would be easier than that. Because of his undrafted status out of Temple in 2016, he makes relative peanuts. That would be a good reason for keeping him, since he's still under team control next season. But it's also an easy out if general manager Mike Maccagnan has had enough. Maccagnan would save $630,000 on the salary cap by whacking Anderson now.
It's always hard to release a bargain, but with the way Anderson is going he's on his way to becoming an unwilling spectator for more than one or two games. His lack of emotional control could eventually land him in jail.
Anderson dealt the Jets' never-ending search for credibility a major blow with his latest antics. Regardless of how the legalities of the situation shake out, the Jets don't need anyone whose conduct toward law enforcement comes close to what Anderson allegedly displayed.
It's time to say bye-bye.
Please follow Ernie on Twitter at @ErniePalladino
