Muhammad Wilkerson, New York’s second-year defensive end out of Temple, was involved in a potentially harmful car crash on the Garden State Parkway over this past weekend. Wilkerson escaped with minor injuries when his 2011 Dodge Challenger slammed into the rear-end of a 2011 Toyota Siena on the northbound side of the Parkway at about 4:30am on Saturday.
The lineman’s car flipped over, trapping him underneath, but Wilkerson was able to disentangle himself from below the vehicle prior to state troopers and paramedics arriving at the scene of the accident. He was treated for ‘minor injuries’ at University Hospital in Newark and received stitches to his forearm. Wilkerson, who was cited for ‘careless driving’ and ‘failure to maintain a lane’, drew fines for both moving violations. Drugs or alcohol were not believed to have played a role in the mishap.
Fortunately, the driver and passengers riding in the other vehicle sustained no major injuries resulting from the collision.
Prior to the crash Saturday morning, Wilkerson was enjoying a superb offseason as Jets coaches lauded the improvement the defensive end made from a season ago. Wilkerson, along with New York’s first-round draft pick Quinton Coples, are expected to help direct a revitalized defense aiming to lift the Jets back to title contention this upcoming season.
Wilkerson has been cleared for next month’s training camp as he voluntarily reported to the Atlantic Health Training Center in Florham Park, N.J. for a full physical from team doctors. For Wilkerson and the Jets, Saturday morning’s mishap was merely a bump in the road as the team readies for a highly anticipated 2012 regular season to get underway.
Rick Laughland covers the New York Jets for Greenandwhitereport.com
You can follow him on Twitter @rlaughland
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