What Do the New York Jets Do With Dimitri Patterson?

In case this is your first time hearing about the subject, I'll give you the gist of the Patterson situation. After attending the pre-game lunch-in, New York Jets CB Dimitri Patterson vanished into thin air. I just watched an episode of The Leftovers, so there was a small part of me that thought he was raptured. His absence lasted 48 hours before contact was made, and he was brought in for questioning. GM John Idzik has gone on to explain that Patterson was not excused, and there was no communication between him and the team. No details of the meeting between Patterson and our front office were made public, but he was suspended indefinitely.

Since the team's remarks, there were a few statements released by Patterson. I am going to paraphrase a lot of this, so bare with me. He basically said that he wasn't AWOL, but he was absent without leave. He also claimed to have made several attempts to contact the team through his agent, Drew Rosenhaus. In his latest interview, he blames the Jets for making up that he was AWOL. This is just a huge mess. The question remains though: what do we do with Patterson?

My gut reaction to this potential locker room bomb, is to cut him. We don't need this kind of drama. We are on the verge of building a very competitive team that prides itself on family. We can't have something like this corrupting our tightly bound unit. Not only is he disrespecting his teammates by abandoning them, he is disrespecting the organization by calling them liars.

Once the initial outrage died down, I find myself still craving facts. The truth of the matter is, we don't know much except that nothing anyone is saying makes one bit of sense. If this is some kind of crazy miscommunication, then so be it. If Patterson is to blame, he needs to go. Keeping him around would create a tumor that would only fester and grow. The team isn't going to want to play with a guy that abandoned them. Colon has made this very clear with his comments--

"I think it’s more of his issue," said right guard Willie Colon. "I think the team is in good spirits right now. We’re excited about getting ready to start the season. I think right now, we understand that we have a good thing with us, and if somebody is not willing to be on the train with us, then maybe they just need to be left behind and we move on."

One thing Patterson does have going for him is his history. He has never had any problems with any of his former teams. He was also held in high regards before this incident. He might not be handling this the right way at all, but it doesn't really add up why he would do this. I don't buy at all that he was upset with the preseason depth charts. For one, it's preseason, and depth charts change daily. He's a seasoned vet, and knows this well.

All I know for sure right now, is that I know nothing. Eventually, the players and the fans deserve to know the truth. Until then, I choose to not take a side. I trust in Idzik to do what is right for this team. If it comes out that Patterson ditched the team, he needs to go. If something got lost in translation, and he is still committed to this team, he deserves a chance to prove it.

What do you guys think? Should we get rid of him regardless, and be done with the situation, or do we give the situation a chance to be ironed out?