Bills take issue with no ejection for Jonathan Jones after late hit on Josh Allen
"If one of us did that to 12, we wouldn't have been in the game anymore."
Buffalo Bills coach Sean McDermott believes Patriots cornerback Jonathan Jones should have been ejected for his helmet-to-helmet hit that knocked Josh Allen out of Sunday’s game.
“There’s no room in football for that,” McDermott said. “It’s a shame to see a player like Josh, or any player for that matter, go down with a hit like that.”
In the fourth quarter, Allen was stopped about a yard short while rushing for a first down on 3rd-and-8. Patriots safety Duron Harmon had tackled Allen, but Jones followed with a late hit that left the 23-year-old quarterback motionless on the ground for a few seconds. Allen was immediately tended to by medical staff and ran to the locker room after a quick visit to the blue medical tent on the sidelines.
Backup Matt Barkley replaced Allen.
Jones was flagged for unnecessary roughness, although there was ultimately no penalty on the play because a holding call on Bills offensive tackle Dion Dawkins offset the two infractions. McDermott said he asked officials for an explanation, noting that he thought Jones should have been ejected.
Some of Allen’s teammates voiced their agreement.
“That’s the first thing that came out of my mouth on the sideline,” safety Micah Hyde said. “If one of us did that to [Tom Brady], we wouldn’t have been in the game anymore. There’s no way. There’s no way we would continue to play in that game.”
McDermott confirmed after the game Allen had entered concussion protocol.
“Obviously, that’s our quarterback,” Hyde continued. “We ride or die with him. To see that happen, Josh didn’t slide, but at the end of the day, you can’t — it doesn’t matter if it’s a running back — you can’t head to head.”
NFL senior vice president of officiating Al Riveron told pool reporter Vic Carrucci after the game that the league did not view the contact worthy of an ejection. Jones said he was not trying to hurt Allen, adding that he planned to reach out to check if he’s OK.
“Obviously, there is helmet contact, but we have standards for an ejection, and this did not to that standard,” Riveron said. “Therefore, we did not eject him.”
