Patriots quarterback Mac Jones answered to those that called his play against Bengals cornerback Eli Apple “dirty” on Monday.
During his weekly radio appearance on WEEI, Jones attempted to explain what happened from his vantage point.
“I went down in front of him to kind of get in the way, to stop him from slowing down Tyquan [Thornton], who could make the tackle there,” Jones said, via ESPN’s Mike Reiss. “Split-second decision; definitely no intention to hurt anyone…”
The NFL world reacted to Jones’ comments on social media.
“How is it any different than going for the knees on players like Gronk or Henry?” a Pats fan asked. “Answer is it’s not. This is just more Patriots haters trying to stir s— up.”
“While it may not have been intentional this time, it came off that way bc of his past examples of him being dirty. Just like with Burfict and Suh, once you’re dirty more than once, you no longer get the benefit of the doubt anymore. It’s guilty until proven innocent,” another replied.
“Dirty player. Bad player,” another user tweeted.
Apple and others certainly appear to disagree.