Aug 26, 2020 3 min read

Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Mackensie Alexander was jailed Wednesday on a charge of misdemeanor battery after deputies say he beat up a man shortly after returning to Florida to help search for his missing father.

Alexander, 26, and another man, 28-year-old Evins Clement, were arrested by Collier County sheriff’s deputies Tuesday night, not long after Alexander arrived back in southwest Florida where he grew up and his family still lives in the small farming community of Immokalee. Bail for the men was set at $2,000 each at a Wednesday afternoon court hearing, and they were released later that day.

“Mr. Alexander’s only concern is the well-being of his father,” the men’s attorney, Brian Pakett, said. “He wants to find him and find him well.”

Alexander had left Bengals training camp earlier Tuesday to assist the search for his 65-year-old father, Jean Alexandre, a Haitian immigrant who uses a French spelling of the family’s surname. Investigators say Mauricet Etienne told them he, Alexandre and others drove about 80 miles (130 kilometers) to pick palmetto berries in Okeechobee County on Monday.

According to a missing person’s report released Wednesday, Etienne, 56, said that after several hours of picking, he could not find Alexandre and spent three hours searching for him before returning to Immokalee to pick up Alexandre’s wife, Marie. They returned to Okeechobee County, where they searched for another 45 minutes before heading back to Immokalee and calling deputies.

According to Alexander’s arrest report, he and Clement had gone to the home of the man he’s accused of assaulting “to discuss a previous incident.” Collier sheriff’s officials declined to say if the man is Etienne. But in a redacted recording of a call, the victim’s son made to deputies from his own home, he said his father’s attackers are angry because they think he is responsible for a man who had gone missing on Monday.

Giant injuries:

The New York Giants secondary has taken a big hit with second-round draft pick Xavier McKinney scheduled for surgery after breaking his left foot.

The Giants announced the injury Wednesday. The club also said linebacker David Mayo will need knee surgery.

Bell hamstrung: Le’Veon Bell and Adam Gase might need to loosen up after some sudden tension on and off the field.

Bell was pulled out of the New York Jets’ scrimmage practice Wednesday as a precaution because Gase said the star running back’s hamstrings felt “a little tight.”

Well, an apparently unhappy Bell took to social media shortly after the coach’s video call and declared he’s totally fine.

“Ain’t nothin wrong with my hamstrings,” Bell insisted on Twitter.