Jones says he was just trying to make a tackle on a bang-bang play and didn’t mean to hurt anyone.
Mac Jones gave his side of the story with respect to grabbing Brian Burns’ ankle during a first quarter sack-fumble, a play that’s come under fire thanks to the Panthers calling the rookie quarterback a “dirty player’ and asking for league sanctions. During his weekly appearance on WEEI’s “Merloni & Fauria” show, Jones backed what Patriots Coach Bill Belichick said earlier in the day, that he thought Burns had the ball after the ferocious blindside hit and fumble. “I got hit pretty hard. I didn’t really know exactly what was going on. I thought he had the ball,” said Jones. “It’s my job to try and make the tackle. That’s pretty much it. “Obviously, when you get up, and see the ball is down the field a little bit more, it’s just a bang-bang play. I didn’t mean to hurt anybody, or anything like that. I was just trying to tackle him and make the play. Cuz, I really didn’t know what was going on.” Asked how he felt about the Panthers encouraging league sanctions against Jones, the Patriots quarterback restated his case. “During the game, no one’s out there besides the players,” he said. “I just thought that’s what happened (Burns had the ball).
