Travis Kelce is not excusing Mac Jones’ behavior, but he is providing an interesting theory into his dirty play.
The Kansas City Chiefs tight end and Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce discussed New England Patriots quarterback Mac Jones’ dive at the knees of Bengals defensive back Eli Apple during the fourth quarter of Cincinnati’s Week 16 win during the most recent episode of their “New Heights” podcast.
In the fourth quarter of Cincinnati’s Week 16 win, Jones threw his body at Apple’s legs while Bengals linebacker Germaine Pratt returned a recovered fumble.
Travis said Apple is “a guy who talks a lot of s—, and Mac Jones probably got fed up with it.” He also added criticized Jones’ hit, saying “you hate to see it – that kind of stuff has no business in the league.”
“You try and keep your composure in moments like that, especially when things aren’t going great – that’s when it typically happens,” Travis added. “Frustration adds to not having success onto the field. And how it’s just a big ball of (expletive). And you just do something stupid. … He’s gotta get fined.”
“He’s gonna get fined, for sure,” Jason said of Jones. “The league’s gotta make a stance on it. I actually really don’t think – I mean, I know it’s dirty. On the level of like dirtiness, I don’t really think it was that bad. … The first time I saw it, I thought it was dirty as hell. Because, like, Eli Apple isn’t even involved in the play. Like he’s like three people back from where the ball – it was just very weird that he chose to do that. I feel like it’s dirty. If he would’ve like went in at his knees – like hard-core – and tried to like gator-roll him? It looked like he just kinda lied down in front of him, like a sad dog. He just kind of sat it down, he got tripped over. I didn’t think it was like intent to injure like everybody’s making it out to be personally. It’s definitely not acceptable. … He’s got some other questionable ones that I think are more dirtier than that one.”
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Jones, who was fined for the play, said during his weekly radio appearance on WEEI that his only intention was to “stop [Apple] from slowing down Tyquan.”
“Just kind of went down in front of him, trying to stop a fast guy from getting to another fast guy. It’s a split-second decision, and there’s a lot that goes into it,” he said.
Asked whether he considers himself a dirty player and if he’d consider appealing a potential NFL fine, Jones told reporters the following:
“Everybody has an opinion and the biggest thing for me is focusing on being the best teammate I can be and earning the respect of the people in this building and the people I care about. Obviously, I have respect for everybody around the league. It takes a lot to get to this league. There’s really good players out there, and we’re all playing hard and trying to win. At the end of the day, you have to keep that in mind. It’s a game and you want to just have fun, enjoy it and compete against each other. That’s something that I’ve always done and I know my teammates appreciate that about me. … Really just focused on this week and let everybody else handle (a potential fine appeal) for me. I’m focused on this week and doing my job. That’s the important part, is every week you look at the game film of the game you just played and then you try to find out what you can do better. I’m kind of in that process right now of what can I do better and how can I execute my job better.”
It was hardly the first time Mac Jones has been involved in a dirty play. In October, Bears rookie safety Jaquan Brisker accused Jones of kicking him below the belt on purpose during a win over the Patriots.
Last year, Panthers linebacker Haason Reddick called a play “completely dirty,” in which Jones held onto Panthers defensive end Brian Burns’ ankle, causing Burns to exit the game.
Hopefully he gets that urge under control because defensive players are going to start head hunting to teach him a lesson.
