Cornerback Dimitri Patterson, who played for Miami last season, disappeared from the Jets on Friday.
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Where in the world is Dimitri Patterson? Ask the Jets and they have no clue.
The Jets cornerback, signed as a free agent this offseason, is currently missing with no insight into how or why he disappeared. Patterson has been plagued by injuries during training camp and has underperformed on the field. He was not present on Friday in the Jets loss to the Giants.
ESPN spoke to Patterson’s agent, Drew Rosenhaus, who said his client was not injured and would be returning to the team soon.
A team source, on the condition of anonymity, said Patterson will be back with the Jets Monday morning.
On a Sunday conference call, general manager John Idzik made it clear the Jets first and foremost were concerned about Patterson’s health and safety and then would try to figure out the player’s future with the team.
“Well nobody knew and we still don’t know. And again, I don’t want to speculate on anything,” Idzik said. “I prefer direct conversation with anyone, much less our player, just to figure out what’s going on. So, we really don’t know. We can only surmise, and again, we don’t want to speculate.”
Idzik has not been in contact with Patterson himself but with his representatives. They’ve assured him that his absence is not due to a legal matter.
Earlier this offseason, the Jets had a similar situation with running back Mike Goodson, who also went missing from the team as he dealt with legal issues. The Jets eventually released him during minicamp in June.
The Jets general manager did make it clear they were blindsided by his absence which Idzik called “unexcused.” There was no indication from Patterson that he was unhappy or had checked out.
“No, that’s what’s really baffling,” Idzik said. “Dimitri has been very engaged. He’s been very attentive in meetings. He was on the upswing and rehabbing his injuries. He’s been helpful as a veteran. He’s been helpful to our young guys because we knew our young guys were going to get increased reps going down the stretch of preseason. So there really wasn’t any warning that we had of something like this. There was nothing to indicate this kind of behavior.”
Follow Jets beat writer Kristian Dyer on Twitter @KristianRDyer.
