The New England Patriots won their third straight game on Sunday, beating the Panthers 24-6 in Charlotte, but the victory didn’t come without controversy as some fans are calling for rookie QB Mac Jones to be punished for what he did to Panthers LB Brian Burns.
It all happened after Jones fumbled the ball in the first quarter. While players scrambled to recover the fumble, Jones grabbled Burns’ ankle and held on as Burns fell to the ground.
Burns’ teammate, LB Haason Reddick, wasn’t happy at all with the move, saying:
“Definitely thought it was a dirty play. I actually saw and witnessed the play 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.”
Here’s the play:
#Panthers Haason Reddick called #Patriots QB Mac Jones “completely dirty” for the play involving Brian Burns. [@NickCarboniWCNC]pic.twitter.com/A6vejOmKJ2
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) November 8, 2021
Here’s the video of Mac Jones grabbing Brian Burns ankle (just follow those two and you’ll see it). pic.twitter.com/OKWgBwIN9c
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) November 7, 2021
Yeah, that didn’t look great at all. I get that Jones is trying to stop a defender from recovering a fumble but that isn’t the way to do it. He wasn’t flagged for it but the league could go back and look at it and punish him for it.
Burns left with an ankle injury and later returned before leaving again with an injury to that same ankle.
Bill Belichick said on Monday that he thought Jones thought that Burns had the ball but that’s hard to believe after seeing the video.
NFL fans had reactions:
