Mac Jones says 'nothing was intentional' in Sauce Gardner incident

On Sunday, the New England Patriots beat the New York Jets. That marked the 15th straight time the Patriots beat the Jets. However, that wasn’t the big story coming out of that game. Instead, it was an incident between quarterback Mac Jones and defensive back Sauce Gardner.

During the game, Gardner was seen shoving Jones to the ground after a key quarterback sneak. He later claimed that Jones had hit him below the belt during the play, saying, “I do gotta ice up, he’s trying to stop me from having kids in the future.”

For his part, Mac Jones has denied intentionally hitting Sauce Gardner in the groin.

“Sauce is one of the best corners in the NFL. I have a lot of respect for him. On that play, nothing was intentional. I just got up and went back to the huddle, and that’s it,” Mac Jones told WEEI.

On the quarterback sneak, Jets linebacker CJ Mosley slammed Mac Jones into the ground after the play was over. That led to the initial scuffle. Jones was then getting up and walking by Sauce Gardner when the supposed cheap shot took place and Gardner once again shoved him to the ground. There were no flags on the play.

After the game, Jones admitted that it was a physical play but denied that he did anything dirty.

“No,” Jones said. “I think just trying to get the first down, third and one, and then we came back on fourth and one, and then tried to fake it. So definitely a physical play, a lot of guys were in there.”

For better or worse, Mac Jones has started to develop a reputation for being a dirty player. That comes after incidents against the Carolina Panthers, Cincinnati Bengals, and the Chicago Bears.

“Like I said, I can’t control that stuff,” Jones said. “I try to be really competitive and go out there and be a good teammate and compete, and come to work every day and work hard and put a lot of hours into it. I definitely care about football a lot and this game means a lot to me and it means a lot to a lot of other guys that I play with so I hope that they can see that.”

Sauce Gardner posted a video of the play

After the game, Sauce Gardner posted a video of the play in question. He clearly believed it showed Mac Jones hitting him below the belt. However, the video was grainy and only definitively showed Jones walking up next to Gardner.

It’s hard to make out any clear shot from Jones. Still, fans can make up their own minds about the play.

Posting this so I don’t get fined lol pic.twitter.com/2KjcAVTNsW

— SAUCE GARDNER (@iamSauceGardner) September 25, 2023

“Posting this so I don’t get fined lol.” Sauce Gardner wrote with his post. The late shove to Mac Jones could lead to a fine. However, Gardner wanted to make it clear that he was justified in the late push.

Other videos have also emerged from several different angles. To this point, though, none have been able to definitively show an angle where Jones does anything more than get very close to Gardner after the play was over.

To this point, there has been no word about potential discipline from the NFL due to the play.