With just under five minutes to play in the first quarter of the Browns‘ frustrating 17-12 loss to the Jets on the road on Sunday in Week 5, quarterback Deshaun Watson was driving Cleveland toward the Jets end zone and found rookie receiver KC Concepcion open near the 10-yard line. He made the catch, briefly, but then was whacked from behind in the head by Jets star safety Minkah Fitzpatrick, a hit that dislodged the ball and drew an immediate flag.
Concepcion lay motionless on the turf, face down, for a long and scary few moments. Eventually, he was able to get up and walk off under his own power, but only stopped briefly on the sideline before he was taken to the locker room and ruled out for the game. It was later announced that Concepcion was in concussion protocol.
Dawand Jones had Strong Words for Minkah Fitzpatrick After KC Concepcion Hit
It was an ugly hit, and Fitzpatrick is sure to be smacked with a fine by the NFL disciplinary office. Losing Concepcion no doubt hurt the Browns in the game, but for teammate Dawand Jones, the play by Fitzpatrick went beyond that.
Speaking to Dan Labbe, among other Browns reporters, in the locker room after the game, Jones said he approached Fitzpatrick with a message on the play.
“I just told him that (expletive) is (expletive) up. … He just told me, ‘It’s football,’ and I’m not down with that (expletive). That (expletive) is not football at that point. I told him that (expletive) is not right. I call it how I see it. Some things ain’t football, some things are. That weren’t football,” said Jones, the massive right tackle who filled in for Tytus Howard during the game after Howard struggled with a knee injury.
Browns’ Todd Monken Downplayed Dirty Hit
Browns coach Todd Monken was also asked about the play, but was far more lenient on the veteran defensive player, who has been in the league for nine seasons and is a five-time Pro Bowler.
He said: “Well, it’s just a bang-bang play. Minkah’s been in this league a long time, he is not a dirty player, I have never seen that out of him. It’s a bang-bang play, and unfortunately, it happened to our guy and that’s part of the league. And not having KC is a part of it but everybody is missing players, that’s the NFL. You lose guys throughout the course of a game and ultimately, you count on the next man up, the expectations of the position. We obviously didn’t do enough. Just didn’t do enough on offense.”
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