Brian Burns Thinks Mac Jones' Play Was 'Some Bull,' Wishes 'Happy Hunting' On Patriots' QB
By Michael Hurley, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) -- Several days have passed, but Panthers edge rusher Brian Burns has not cooled off about his run-in with Mac Jones from Sunday. Not even a little bit.
Burns met with the media in Carolina on Wednesday and sounded off with his feelings regarding the play where Jones grabbed Burns' ankle after the defensive end forced a fumble on a sack in the first half of Sunday's Patriots-Panthers game.
"Watching the replay and watching all the angles and everything that they got, I think it's some bull," Burns said. "I think it's some bull for him to take his legs -- because my main thing is that he took his legs and he swept the one leg I had up. You know what I mean? And then ... I think it's some bull."
Jones said he thought Burns had the ball and thus tried to tackle him, but Burns said he's not buying that one, as Jones grabbed his arm after the sack.
"Even if you thought I had the ball, it's not legal to trip somebody or to leg sweep somebody, let alone twist ankles, or whatever ... it's not legal to do that," Burns said. "And like everybody else ran past us. If I had the ball, don't you think I'd be getting tackled? Or your teammate would help? So I don't think it's cool, but it's whatever."
Burns also explicitly stated that he believes Jones tried to twist his ankle.
"I feel like he tried to twist it, personally," Burns said.
Burns did admit that he had been dealing with some issues with that ankle prior to the play, "so that's probably why it hurt so bad." And he also stated that when he later left the game, it was that someone rolled up on his ankle on a different play. (Burns missed just four plays on defense after the incident with Jones.)
He also said he wasn't exactly sure what happened in the moment, but he came to his conclusion by watching replays. He also didn't like seeing the way Jones walked away from him after hauling him to the turf.
"After watching the video, and looking at whatever happened, and then him just like walking away, you feel me? Like he don't ... like it was just everything didn't seem right about it," Burns said. "Like all right I'm down there in pain, whatever the case may be. And he just kinda looked at me and walked off like he did his job, or some bull like that. But yeah, after seeing that, that's when I realized like, damn."
Burns laughed when asked if he had received any sort of apology from Jones or Bill Belichick. Burns said he would like an apology from Jones, and he wishes he had a chance to play him again to deliver some sort of vigilante justice. In the absence of a Patriots rematch, Burns put out a message to fellow pass rushers to deliver some pain to Jones.
"It would be nice to have an apology, Mac. It would be nice to have an apology. But I mean, it's not gonna happen. And however the NFL handles it is on them," Burns said. "I would just like to play them again. And I wish all my fellow D-end brothers -- happy hunting. And that's all."
Whether or not the league opts to fine Jones for the play remains in question. Yet Burns' decision to promote violence against a quarterback, in a league that works hard to protect quarterbacks, may end up backfiring.
