Carolina outside linebacker Haason Reddick called it “a dirty play” and Panthers coach Matt Rhule said he thought a penalty should have been called on Sunday. On Monday, Carolina outside linebacker Shaq Lawson echoed Reddick’s assessment.
But the object of their ire, New England Patriots quarterback Mac Jones, offered an explanation on Monday for his actions.
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What has the Panthers steamed occurred on the next-to-last snap of the first quarter of New England’s 24-6 victory over Carolina on Sunday.
Panthers defensive end Brian Burns sacked Jones on a third-and-4 snap at the Carolina 47-yard line, causing the former Alabama All-American to fumble.
As Burns jumped up to chase the football, Jones grabbed the defensive end by the leg and, while still on the turf, swung one of his legs around to sweep Burns off his right foot and onto the ground.
Jones said he wasn’t trying to keep Burns from chasing the loose football; he was attempting to tackle the defensive end because he thought Burns had the football.
“After I got hit pretty hard, I didn’t really know exactly what was going on,” Jones said during an appearance on WEEI-FM’s “Merloni and Fauria.” “I thought he had the ball, and it was my job to try to make the tackle, and that’s pretty much it. Obviously, when you get up and see that 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 I didn’t really know what was going on.”
After the play, Burns was checked by team trainers and returned to the game. But he left again with an ankle injury in the fourth quarter and did not return. Rhule said Burns had “an ankle sprain,” with the severity being evaluated on Monday.
Before Sunday’s game, Rhule talked about how much he enjoyed coaching Jones at the Reese’s Senior Bowl in January. During the game, he was talking to the officials about what Jones had done to Burns.
“I don’t know what was in Mac’s head,” Rhule said on Monday when asked about Jones’ explanation. “My job on game day on the sidelines is to defend our players. What I don’t want to be is the Carolina Panthers that everybody gets to hit out of bounds, horse-collar and turn their ankles late and nothing ever gets called. I look like a madman on the sidelines, but if that’s what it takes, I’m going to sit there and defend our players to the officials the entire game. We have an excellent sideline. We don’t have a lot of players yapping at the officials. We don’t have a lot of coaches. I do it. I try to defend our guys.
“I saw the play on the field. I said something. I saw the replay, said something to the game officials. I love Mac Jones. He’s a tremendous competitor. I have no idea what was in his brain, and I’m not here to talk about that. But I am here to defend our guys, and, obviously, we can’t get guys hurt after the play.”
Rhule added: “I hate for Brian that that happened.”
During his appearance on WEEI-FM on Monday, Patriots coach Bill Belichick said he thought Jones believed Burns had the football.
But Lawson wasn’t buying it on Monday.
“That was some BS on Mac Jones’ part,” Lawson said, “and, hopefully, they fine him or something like that. But we don’t need that in this type of league.”
Jones doesn’t want to get fined by the NFL.
“Hopefully, they see it how I saw it in the game,” Jones said, “and they don’t look too much more into it because that’s what it was.”
New England’s third straight victory raised the Patriots’ record to 5-4 and moved them to within one-half game of the Buffalo Bills’ lead in the AFC East. New England will play Buffalo twice in its remaining eight regular-season games.
The Patriots are scheduled to play the Cleveland Browns at noon CST Sunday at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts.
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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.
