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Christian Barmore blasts Jets player for ‘dirty’ play that led to heated exchange
“The play was already over. I heard the whistle blown. Bro came behind me and literally landed his whole body on my back.”
Patriots defensive tackle Christian Barmore was fired up as he and his teammates made their way off the field at MetLife Stadium during halftime.
New England held a commanding 35-3 at the break against the Jets en route to an eventual 42-10 blowout win on Sunday afternoon. But Barmore was still left steaming after a skirmish with Jets right tackle Armand Membou on the final play of the second quarter.
Barmore had to be held back by Mike Vrabel and several other Patriots players/staffers to keep the 6-foot-5, 315-pound defensive lineman from going after Membou — with New England’s head coach attempting to keep Barmore calm and moving toward the locker room as both teams separated.
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Speaking after New England’s win, Barmore didn’t hold back when asked by Doug Kyed of The Boston Herald about the play in question that led to his outburst against Membou.
“What happened was sorry a** number [70] do dirty-a** [expletive] behind my back,” Barmore told Kyed. “People want to talk [expletive], but he ain’t out there on this field. I’m just saying, bro. They want to act tough, you go in the locker room. …
“The play was already over,” Barmore added. “I heard the whistle blown. Bro came behind me and literally landed his whole body on my back.”
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A look at the final play of the first half showed Barmore on the MetLife Stadium turf after Isaiah Davis gained 12 yards on the ground, with the 6-foot-4, 332-pound Membou then jumping on Barmore behind the line of scrimmage.
Barmore seemingly tried to push himself away from Vrabel as New England’s head coach attempted to keep him composed after the play, with Vrabel noting postgame that he was just trying to keep temperatures in check.
“I was just reminding everybody to keep their composure,” Vrabel said. “We have an identity we’ve shown, and that we’ve put out there on the football field, and to make great decisions for the football team. We don’t want to give people free yards. That was it. Just a reminder.”
Despite his evident anger at Membou’s late hit, Barmore credited his head coach for calming him down after his initial outburst.
“Listen to my coach,” Barmore told Kyed of how he responded in the second half. “Coach helped me calm down, because he saw what happened. He told me to keep my head in the game, because they was doing dirty stuff.”
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Barmore and the Patriots had the last laugh against the Jets, as New England already had Sunday’s game wrapped up at halftime with that 32-point lead.
As noted by ESPN’s Mike Reiss, the Patriots’ 32-point halftime lead was the franchise’s largest since they led by 32 points against the Jets in Week 12 of the 2012 season — a blowout on Thanksgiving now known as the “Butt Fumble Game”.
“It’s for the team,” Barmore said of keeping his cool in the second half against New York. “We got to keep calm for the team. We already knew what they were doing, so we had to keep cool for the team. We got the win. Look at the scoreboard. I’m proud of my team, proud of us, proud of the D-line. We’re just going to keep getting better.”
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