Mac Jones had a relatively quiet start to life in the NFL when it came to getting involved in scandals or brawls with other players in the league. That came to an end last weekend, when the New England Patriots defeated the Carolina Panthers 6-24 on the road.
The Alabama Crimson Tide product has been in the eye of the storm for a play in the first halfthat Panthers linebacker Haason Reddick dubbed as ‘completely dirty‘ and asked the league to give it further review.
After getting sacked by Panthers defensive end Brian Burns and losing the football, Jones grabbed Burns’ ankle to prevent him from chasing the loose ball as the play continued a few yards away from them. In that situation, Jones twisted Burns’ ankle, earning the rage from his opponents.
Patriots QB Mac Jones reacts to’dirty play’ accusations by Panthers players
Burns had to leave the field immediately after that play and, despite he returned to the game later, hewalked out again in the fourth quarter. Jones wasn’t penalized during the gamebut Reddick stood for those who claim the league should do it in the next few days.
Shortly after that, Jones addressed the subject in his appeerance onWEEI‘sMerloni & Fauria. “After I got hit pretty hard, I didn’t really know exactly what was going on. I thought he had the ball and it was my job to try and make the tackle. That was pretty much it,” Jones said, as quoted by Michael Hurley of CBS.
“And you know, obviously when you get up and you see the ball is actually down the field a little bit more … it was just a bang-bang play and I didn’t mean to hurt anybody or anything like that. I was just trying to tackle him and make the play. Because you know, I didn’t really know what was going on.“
Unsurprisingly, Bill Belichick backed his quarterback, claiming he also believes Jones was not doing something wrong on purpose. “I think he thought Burns had the ball,” he said, via Pro Football Talk.
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Whether Mac Jones knew Burns didn’t have the ball or not will probably remain in doubt even after these statements, but what really matters for him about this situation is what the NFL will have to say in the next few days.
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