NASHVILLE — The Jets may be long out of the playoff race, but they still have fight.  Titans defensive tackle Jurrell Casey incited a massive brawl on Sunday when he punched Geno Smith in the helmet during a replay review in the third quarter. Smith was talking to several Titans players, what the QB later described as “typical trash talk,” when Casey simply popped him, seemingly out of nowhere.  That action spurred the Jets bench into action as players leaped forward to defend their quarterback. Nick Mangold, Breno Giacomini and Willie Colon all immediately rushed onto the field and Giacomini and Colon went at Casey. The Titans’ defensive tackle connected on a swing at Giacomini and eventually Casey ended up without a helmet.  “We’re going to protect our players at all costs,” Giacomini said. “I think it was a dumb move on his part, he’s a good player and you don’t have to do that stuff.”  Before long, the middle of the field was swarmed with players from both squads. Amazingly, the only penalty was one against Casey for 15 yards.  “He can take a punch, you know, I think that’s good,” Rex Ryan said of Smith. “I don’t know what happened there. It looked like he got punched in the  face. That’s what it looked like from my vantage point.”  Then Ryan sarcastically added, “But apparently he didn’t get hit,” referring to the fact that Casey wasn’t ejected.  Players said they were stunned that Casey wasn’t thrown out of the game. Giacomini said he wanted to give the refs the benefit of the doubt but Colon said they saw Casey take a swing.  “They saw it,” Colon said. “He said that he saw it. The ref said that he saw it but he said that he missed. I said that he didn’t miss. It was what it was.”  “I assume he’s going to get quite the hefty letter,” Mangold added, meaning he expects Casey to receive a large fine for the incident.  Casey, after the game, regretted the action.  “I want to apologize to my team for putting us in a bad situation like that,” he said. “And I have to control myself in those situations and control my feelings out there.”  ON YOUR PHONE? CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO
The Jets and Titans might each have been 2-11 entering Sunday’s contest, but that didn’t stop tempers from flaring between them.