Mac Jones reacts to Sauce Gardner accusation of low blow in Patriots win

Mac Jones left MetLife Stadium on Sunday with his first win of the season, defeating the New York Jets 15-10. But he also left with some interesting accusations that came from Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner.

Following the game, Gardner claimed that Jones hit him below the belt on a 3rd & 1 play in the fourth quarter when Jones ran a quarterback sneak. The play ended in a physical altercation and shoving match between the two teams, and after the game, Jones was asked if he made a dirty play on the QB sneak.

“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.”

Mac Jones was asked if he thought he made a dirty play on the sneak against Sauce Gardner pic.twitter.com/zfjOSlqyE8

— Mark Daniels (@ByMarkDaniels) September 24, 2023

Jones denies the low blow on Gardner in Sunday’s game, and continued to focus on the intricacies of the quarterback sneak play that the Patriots weren’t able to convert on in a crucial fourth quarter moment.

“It’s kind of the famous quarterback sneak that everybody does, there’s all the guys on both teams are in there so it can get pretty physical,” Jones said. “And that’s something that I have to learn from is getting my pads a little bit lower so that I can get it and not get held up.”

Jones kept his attention and answer on the quarterback sneak play itself, but footage after the game revealed that the low blow to Gardner may have occurred after the play.

Jets linebacker CJ Mosley is the one who tackled Jones on the quarterback sneak play, aggressively slamming him to the turf after the whistle was blown which escalated the activity of the scuffle between the two teams.

Once Jones got up from the tackle he passed by Gardner, and although the camera doesn’t catch him making contact with Gardner below the belt, it’s clear something Jones did something frustrated the All-Pro cornerback as he shoved him to the ground forcing a referee to get in his way afterwards.

Both Gardner and Jones have different sides to their stories, but after the game, a reporter asked Gardner if he needed to ice the area that Jones made contact with, and seemed in better spirits about the situation than in the game.

“Man, that s— had my stomach hurting a little bit. I don’t even know what to say,” Gardner laughed and said. “I do gotta ice up, he’s trying to stop me from having kids in the future.”