Mac Jones said he was only trying to tackle Carolina Panthers defensive end Brian Burns on a play on Sunday.
New England Patriots rookie quarterback Mac Jones said he was only trying to tackle Carolina Panthers defensive end Brian Burns on a play on Sunday that one of Burns’ teammates called “completely dirty.”
The play came near the end of the first quarter in the Patriots’ 24-6 win, when Jones was hit hard and strip-sacked from the blind side. He then held Burns’ right ankle as Panthers linebacker Frankie Luvu recovered the fumble farther down the field.
After the play, Burns limped off the field, but he later returned to the game before departing a second time in the fourth quarter.
“After I got hit pretty hard, I didn’t really know what was going on. I thought he had the ball. It’s my job to try to make the tackle. That was pretty much it,” Jones said in his weekly interview on sports radio WEEI’s “Merloni and Fauria” program.
“Obviously, when you get up and see the ball is actually down the field a little bit more — it’s just a bang-bang play. 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.”
Panthers edge rusher Haason Reddick stated that he witnessed it while it was happening: “At first it felt like he was trying trip or kick Burns. And the next thing you know I saw him tugging on Burns’ ankle. I thought it was completely dirty. Hopefully, it’s something the league addresses.”
The NFL will review the play, as it does every play after games, and Jones could be subject to a fine under the league rules regarding player accountability.
