Anderson delivered a message to a television camera after his second score of the day.
New York Jets coach Todd Bowles criticized Robby Anderson on Sunday after the wide receiver campaigned for Pro Bowl votes to a television camera during his team’s 35-27 loss to the Carolina Panthers.
After Anderson caught his second touchdown pass of the game on a 54-yard grab in the third quarter, he walked over to a camera on the sideline camera and said, „Hey, will you all vote for me for the Pro Bowl, man? Please.“
Bowles said in his postgame news conference that he did not see Anderson’s comments on the television broadcast.
„But if that’s true, that’s not smart football at all,“ Bowles said. „We don’t want selfish players on this team doing selfish things.“
Color commentator Chris Spielman quickly chided Anderson for his Pro Bowl push on Fox’s broadcast.
„How about we worry about outscoring somebody in the fourth quarter, (get) focused on this game before campaigning for Pro Bowl votes? Let’s try that first,“ Spielman said. „I mean, you’re a great player. Great players don’t need to campaign for themselves. Your actions speak louder than your words.“
Anderson, who finished with six catches for 146 yards and two scores, said he was simply excited after the play and „wasn’t trying to come off in a bad way.“
“Everybody knows that I’m all for this team in every aspect. I make my life decisions based on my teammates,“ said Anderson, who was signed as an undrafted free agent out of Temple prior to last season. „Everything I do is about being the best I can for my teammates so it wasn’t anything malicious or anything like that or trying to come off in the wrong way. I was just excited in the moment.
“Everybody is entitled to their own opinion, but my intentions were nothing bad.”
Anderson leads the Jets with 568 receiving yards and five touchdowns this season.
NFL reporter Lorenzo Reyes contributed to this report.
Contact Tom Schad at tschad@usatoday.com or on Twitter @Tom_Schad .
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