Not everyone has turned on Eli Apple. The embattled Giants cornerback, suspended Wednesday, still has a few friends left — in the Jets locker room.
“He was a great teammate with me at Ohio State,” wide receiver Jalin Marshall told The Post on Wednesday. “He was good to me. We never had any issues.”
Marshall and Darron Lee, Apple’s former Ohio State teammates, came to his aid on Wednesday before the suspension was announced, both offering praise regarding their time playing alongside Apple a day after safety Landon Collins called him a team “cancer.” He was finally suspended on Wednesday after refusing to take the field with the scout team, sources confirmed to The Post’s Paul Schwartz. He also refused to speak to reporters, saying “I gotta take a s—t” as he walked away.
“From the first time I’ve known Eli until now, I feel like he’s a high-character guy and competitor,” Marshall said. “It’s definitely surprising. You never want somebody that you know to go through something like that.”
Lee echoed Marshall, saying: “He’s a great teammate to me. So I can’t speak for anything going on right now.”
It’s been a rocky season on and off the field for Apple, the Giants’ first-round pick in 2016.
“It’s kind of hard from the outside looking in. You never know what’s going on,” Marshall said. “Maybe they have something going on personal. Maybe [Collins is at fault]. There’s a whole bunch of stuff that goes on in a locker room you don’t know about.”
Marshall also pointed out how different things are now for both players, now that they are paid professionals.
“We didn’t have money back then,” Marshall said. “There’s a lot of stuff that has to do with somebody’s life.”