Jones says he was just trying to make a tackle on a bang-bang play and didn’t mean to hurt anyone.<\/b>
\nMac Jones gave his side of the story with respect to grabbing Brian Burns\u2019 ankle during a first quarter sack-fumble, a play that\u2019s come under fire thanks to the Panthers calling the rookie quarterback a \u201cdirty player\u2019 and asking for league sanctions. During his weekly appearance on WEEI\u2019s \u201cMerloni & Fauria\u201d 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. \u201cI got hit pretty hard. I didn\u2019t really know exactly what was going on. I thought he had the ball,\u201d said Jones. \u201cIt\u2019s my job to try and make the tackle. That\u2019s pretty much it. \u201cObviously, when you get up, and see the ball is down the field a little bit more, it\u2019s just a bang-bang play. I didn\u2019t mean to hurt anybody, or anything like that. I was just trying to tackle him and make the play. Cuz, I really didn\u2019t know what was going on.\u201d Asked how he felt about the Panthers encouraging league sanctions against Jones, the Patriots quarterback restated his case. \u201cDuring the game, no one\u2019s out there besides the players,\u201d he said. \u201cI just thought that\u2019s what happened (Burns had the ball). I had to make the tackle. I did what I did in real time. It is what it is.\u201d NFL Network\u2019s Tom Pelissero reports that Jones may face a fine for the play, but there won\u2019t be any discipline beyond that. \u201cHopefully they see it how I saw it in the game, and they don\u2019t look too much more into it,\u201d said Jones. \u201cBecause that\u2019s what it was.\u201d The Panthers, meanwhile, still can\u2019t get over it. Carolina Panthers Coach Matt Rhule chimed in during his presser Monday morning, following up on Haasan Reddick\u2019s rant against Jones following the game. \u201cI love Mac Jones. Tremendous competitor. I have no idea what was in his brain,\u201d Rhule said. \u201cI\u2019m not here to talk about that, but I am here to defend our guys. Obviously, we can\u2019t get guys hurt from something after the play. \u201cI don\u2019t know what was in Mac\u2019s head. My job on game day on the sidelines is to defend our players. What I don\u2019t want to be is I don\u2019t want to be the Carolina Panthers who everybody gets to hit out of bounds and horse-collar and turn their ankles late and nothing ever gets called. I look like a madman on the sidelines, but if that\u2019s what it takes, I\u2019m going to sit there and defend our players to the officials the entire game.\u201d During his radio appearance, Jones also confirmed that he had Burns had played together on opposing teams in high school. He said there was no animosity between the two. Jones cracked that Burns might not have even known who he was in high school. \u201cHe\u2019s a great player, a great defensive end. He\u2019s been that way a long time,\u201d said Jones. \u201cHe was great at Florida State and then obviously, has played well in the NFL. He\u2019s done a great job. I have no hard feelings against him or anyone on the team.\u201d Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page. Enter your email and password to access comments. Forgot Password? Don’t have a Talk profile? Create one. Invalid username\/password. Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration. Create a commenting profile by providing an email address, password and display name. You will receive an email to complete the registration. Please note the display name will appear on screen when you participate. Already registered? Log in to join the discussion. Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login to participate in the conversation. Here\u2019s why. Use the form below to reset your password. When you’ve submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code. Send questions\/comments to the editors. \u00ab Previous<\/p>\n