ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- Hours after Buffalo Bills coach Rex Ryan confirmed that IK Enemkpali will be a co-captain Thursday night at MetLife Stadium against the New York Jets, the reserve defensive end declined to answer a question about whether he's had contact with Jets quarterback Geno Smith, whom he punched in August.

"Next question," Enemkpali told a large scrum of reporters Monday.

Enemkpali had little reaction Monday to being named a captain, saying, "Everything is obvious. I don't really gotta talk about it."

Ryan has a long tradition of naming players as captains against their former teams and intends on sending former Jets tight end Matthew Mulligan to join Enemkpali at midfield for the coin toss Thursday night.

However, Ryan has downplayed his own return to New York after six seasons as the Jets' coach, calling the Jets "just another opponent" on the Bills' schedule.

"It's understood for both of us what this game means or whatnot," Enemkpali said Monday, "But as far as us, we still have a game plan to stick to and execute."

Enemkpali gave a 45-second statement about the altercation after being claimed off waivers by the Bills during training camp, but did not take questions and has not answered questions about the incident in the months since.

The NFL suspended Enemkpali for the first four games of the regular season for violating the NFL's personal conduct policy.

Running back Boobie Dixon gave his support for Enemkpali in the Bills’ locker room Monday.

“I’ll run with IK any day, man,” Dixon said. “He’s a major competitor, man. He made us better every day. He one of the players that you need on your team, you know what I’m saying? He’s one of the guys that if you was in an alley by yourself, you would want [him] in there with you.”