Perhaps more significant than anything said by Dolphins guard Richie Incognito during his Sunday interview with Jay Glazer of FOX Sports is what Incognito didn’t say.
Incognito refused to address the question of whether someone told him to “toughen up” tackle Jonathan Martin. Omar Kelly of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel has reported that Dolphins coaches indeed gave that instruction to Incognito.
“I asked Incognito if the coaches ordered a Code Red,” Glazer said on the air, after the interview played. “Did they order him to toughen up Jonathan Martin? Incognito sidestepped the question, saying he can’t answer because of the ongoing legal situation. The NFL is expected to meet with Jonathan Martin in Los Angeles later this week.”
But there really isn’t an “ongoing legal situation,” other than Incognito’s suspension. If he was merely carrying out orders, he wouldn’t undermine his position by saying so — he’d help it.
The truth could be that Incognito is simply honoring the code of the locker room by not talking about a possible “Code Red” on Martin. If that’s the case, the question becomes whether Incognito will admit it to Ted Wells, the investigator hired by the NFL to look into the situation.