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If quarterback Mac Jones keeps on his current trajectory, he could wind up with quite a negative reputation. Already, he has earned something of a rap as a hothead, given the times he was caught on camera last season spouting foul language when frustrated by the Patriots’ floundering offense. Now, he is again being rapped as a dirty player.
Count Jets star cornerback Sauce Gardner as one who will be wary of Jones going forward. According to ESPN, after the Patriots’ 15-10 win in New York on Sunday, Gardner accused Jones of giving him a below-the-belt knock during a post-play dust-up on a quarterback sneak in he fourth quarter.
“He had got tackled,” Gardner said, per reporter Rich Cimini. “He reached his hand up to try to, like, get me to help him up. And I just moved his hand out of the way. Then, when he gets up (and) he just comes up to me like, ‘Good job.’ But while he said that … he hit me in my private parts. You know what I’m saying?”
Video showed Gardner going after Jones following the play. Gardner said the low blow was the reason.
“Man, my stomach hurt a little bit, you know what I mean?” Gardner said. “I don’t even know what to say. I do got to ice up. He’s trying to keep me from having kids in the future. He’s trippin’.”
Bengals CB Accused Mac Jones of ‘Dirty’ Play in 2022
Jones was fined at least three times last season for questionable behavior. He was hit for $10,609 for flipping a ball at a Bills defensive player on December 1, and was hit again, twice, in the Patriots’ loss to Cincinnati in Week 15.
One of those fines was for inserting himself into a pile-up while chasing what he claimed was still a loose fumble (it wasn’t). That was another $10,609 fine. But late in the game, he was fined for a more serious offense.
Jones was fined $13,367 by the league and called out by Bengals cornerback Eli Apple, for taking out Apple at the knees during a fumble return. On the play, linebacker Germaine Pratt was attempting to run with a fumble when Apple sprinted up, well behind the play. Jones inexplicably (unless his intent was to hurt Apple) went to the ground in front of Apple.
“He tripped me,” Apple told reporters. “I thought it was a dirty play. He’s done that before, I’ve seen it.”
Panthers’ Brian Burns in 2021: ‘It’s Some Bull’
Indeed, in 2021, Panthers star linebacker Brian Burns accused Jones of a dirty play, too, during a strip-sack. After the sack, with the ball still loose, Jones grabbed the leg of Burns, causing him to tumble and injuring his ankle.
“I think it’s some bull for him to take his legs — because my main thing is he took his legs and he swept the one leg I had up, you know what I mean?” Burns told reporters after the incident. “I think it’s some bull. And his explanation for it — because he thought I had the ball — I don’t think you could think a person has the ball. Soon as I sacked you, you grabbed my arm. And then everybody ran past us.”
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