Kenrick Ellis Leaves Jets Minicamp, Heads Off to Serve Jail Sentence

by Luke Hughes on Thu, Jun 14, 2012 at 8:59PM

Kenrick Ellis played in just five games for the New York Jets in 2011, and it looks like it could be a while before Jets fans see the defensive tackle in uniform again.

Ellis left Jets mincamp on Thursday afternoon and is slated to report to a Virginia prison to serve a 45-day jail term, starting Friday. The sentence was handed down after Ellis plead guilty to misdemeanor assault and battery charges, stemming from a 2010 incident while he was still a student at Hampton University in Virgina.

The second-year defender has been reluctant to discuss his jail sentence at all, but Ellis did answer a question regarding the effect on his conditioning during Thursday's practice.

"Conditioning is a major part of playing in the NFL. I'll just try to get in better shape," Ellis said of serving the term. "I'm just going to do my best to show up here and contribute to the team."

Jets head coach Rex Ryan left Ellis with a small nugget of advice before breaking from camp.

"There are people that have gone through similar things, and I basically said, 'Lean on each other.' That's pretty much it," Ryan said.

Ellis' sentence is set to end three days after the Jets are scheduled to report for training camp on July 26 in Cortland, N.Y.

Ellis was a third-round pick, 94th overall, out of Hampton in 2011. He recorded seven tackles for the Jets during his rookie season.