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The NFL is fining Mac Jones $11,139 for his dirty play on Eli Apple, according to Pro Football Talk. On Saturday, the New England Patriots hosted the Cincinnati Bengals and suffered a 22-18 loss. After Bengals linebacker Germaine Pratt recovered a fumble, he was racing to the end zone while his teammates were setting up blocks.
While Jones was chasing Pratt from behind, he dove into the legs of Apple. Here is a video of the play.
After the game was over, Apple was asked about Jones' play.Not sure about this move from Mac Jones. pic.twitter.com/NlXdkknko8 — Michael Hurley (@michaelFhurley) December 24, 2022
Apple was straight honest in his answer as he described it as "a dirty play." "Of course I did [notice it]. He tripped me. I thought it was a dirty play. He's done that before, I've seen it," Apple said after the game.
Jones defended himself after Apple's comments
After being accused of pulling off a dirty play, Jones insisted he didn't have any bad intentions and that he definitely wasn't trying to injury Apple.
"I went down in front of him to kind of get in the way to stop him from slowing down Tyquan, who obviously could make the tackle there. So 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. You're out there trying to compete, it's a physical game. So just trying to help the team win. I have all the respect for Eli and the Bengals. They played a great game.
So, there's no hard feelings and definitely no intention to hurt anybody on that play. Nor do I believe that when I'm playing quarterback, that's what [the defense is intending to do]; I get hit a lot, too. We're all out there playing hard.
It's just part of the game," Jones said. After Apple accused Jones of a dirty play, the NFL seemingly agreed with the Bengals cornerback and decided to fine the Patriots quarterback. This is not the first time that Jones was accused of playing dirty.