Morning sports update: Eric Reid said late hit on Ben Watson wasn’t about disagreement over Players Coalition
"There’s a lot of people who don’t agree with a lot of the comments that I’ve made."
The Red Sox and Royals “restarted” a game on Wednesday from earlier in August that had been suspended due to rain in the 10th inning. The unusual clash ended after just 12 minutes when Brock Holt hit a walk-off to win it, 5-4.
We present to you the weirdest day in baseball! pic.twitter.com/nXsSITPtXy
— Red Sox (@RedSox) August 22, 2019
And the Patriots defeated the Panthers 10-3 in a somewhat grueling preseason game at Gillette Stadium. Tom Brady got a few reps in before giving way to rookie Jarrett Stidham.
Eric Reid denied his hit on Ben Watson had anything to do with their Players Coalition disagreement: During the Patriots’ preseason clash with the Panthers, New England tight end Ben Watson sustained a concussion when he was hit late in play by Carolina safety Eric Reid.
According to NFL Network reporter Tom Pelissero, the hit on Watson by Reid is being evaluated for a potential fine:
Ben Watson leaves the field under his own power but did have his helmet taken from him. The late hit provided by Eric Reid. The two men not seeing eye to eye on Twitter this week fwiw. #Patriots pic.twitter.com/VKJK6X2U9e
— Mike Giardi (@MikeGiardi) August 23, 2019
After the game, Reid was asked about the recent disagreement with Watson over the Players Coalition, a group that was founded in 2017 to “make an impact on social justice and racial equality.” Watson is involved with the work that the coalition has been doing, while Reid notably separated himself from it in 2017.
Reid, 27, was the first person to join Colin Kaepernick in kneeling during the national anthem in 2016. He has continued his criticism of the Players Coalition, recently linking it to the news of Jay-Z’s company, Roc Nation, partnering with the NFL to further his argument.
“I could be completely wrong, but since the $89 million announcement with the Players Coalition, what’s come of that?” Reid told ESPN on Aug. 17 about the NFL’s investment in the coalition. “We get to pretend we care about social justice. We get to pretend we care about the black community, and we get to hide behind Malcolm Jenkins’s face, and we get to hide behind Jay-Z’s face and not do anything.”
Watson responded on Twitter on Aug. 19:
Quote starts with “”I could be completely wrong, but since…”
Yes @E_Reid35 you are wrong! You know the work many of us including @MalcolmJenkins have done. No one entity owns this movement. We are all a continuation of the generations who fought before us. We need each other https://t.co/C154KIvD1X
— Benjamin Watson (@BenjaminSWatson) August 18, 2019
After the game, with Watson in concussion protocol, Reid was asked if there was anything personal in his hit.
“I didn’t even know he tweeted me,” Reid told NESN’s Doug Kyed. “That’s not even something you process in a game. I’m not analyzing who has the ball in their hand and what they tweeted at me while I’m playing the game.”
Reid acknowledged that Watson is far from the only person to disagree with something he’s said.
“There’s a lot of people who don’t agree with a lot of the comments that I’ve made,” said Reid.
Trivia: Five Patriots running backs have totaled over 1,000 yards in a season during the Bill Belichick era. Can you name them?
(Answer at the bottom).
Hint: The years in which the seasons occurred are: 2001, 2004, 2010, 2012, 2016. Each time it was a different running back.
More from Boston.com:
- 5 takeaways from the Patriots’ preseason win over the Carolina Panthers
- Patrick Chung indicted for felony cocaine possession
- Here’s what Bob Cousy had to say after Donald Trump gave him the Presidential Medal of Freedom
- Carl Yastrzemski’s grandson has been an unlikely 28-year-old rookie success story
- What the Royals had to say after their brief visit to Fenway Park
- Here’s how Tom Brady fared in his preseason debut
- What is your favorite weird or unusual game in Red Sox history?
Jakobi Meyers’s moment…getting yelled at by Tom Brady
: Undrafted rookie receiver Jakobi Meyers has had plenty of positive moments in training camp and preseason so far in 2019. And while he ended Thursday’s preseason game with seven receptions, none of them came from Tom Brady. In fact, at one point, the Patriots’ quarterback yelled Meyers for what appeared to be a wrong route. Still, Meyers couldn’t help but take in what was a surreal moment.
“I was like, ‘Man, I’m really getting yelled at by Tom Brady,'” Meyers said afterward.
The latest on Patriots’ injury news: According to Boston Globe reporter Jim McBride, Patriots special teams player Brandon King is “likely” out for the season with torn quadriceps. [Boston Globe]
What can’t Tacko Fall do?
multi-talented 👀 @tackofall99
(via cboogie3/Snap) https://t.co/WMBOAZ6l6r
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) August 22, 2019
On this day: In 2008, Argentina won the gold medal in men’s soccer at the Beijing Olympics. Angel Di Maria scored the game’s only goal in a 1-0 win over Nigeria. The assist on the goal came from a 21-year-old Lionel Messi. Other than the 2005 U-20 World Cup, it remains the only competition Messi has won with his national team:
https://youtu.be/qex8uW-JhMs
Daily highlight: Brandon Bolden doesn’t care that it’s preseason.
https://twitter.com/Patriots/status/1164702746223632384
Trivia answer: Antowain Smith (2001), Corey Dillon (2004), BenJarvus Green-Ellis (2010), Stevan Ridley (2012), LeGarrette Blount (2016)
