Tuesday Patriots Notebook 9/26: News and Notes

Some news and notes for this morning:

Jones Taking Heat

Much of the talk on Monday centered on the incident between New England Patriots quarterback Mac Jones and New York Jets defensive back Sauce Gardner, with Jones allegedly giving the cornerback a tap to the groin during Sunday’s game.

The incident stemmed from the missed quarterback sneak late in the contest, where the Jets stood Jones up and safety Jordan Whitehead got both of his hands up underneath Jones’ chin, pushing the quarterback’s head back.

That infuriated Jones, who threw himself forward where he collided with linebacker C.J. Mosely, who slammed him to the turf. According to Gardner, who was standing over him, the defensive back apparently rebuffed Jones’ hand when the quarterback tried to get him to help him up (see above photo), with Jones then hopping up and saying something before Gardner claims he was hit in the groin by Jones.

That saw Gardner push Jones, with video showing Gardner in pain as he walked away.

Jones was asked about it on Jones and Mego in his weekly appearance on WEEI and denied anything happened.

“Sauce is one of the best corners in the NFL,” said Jones. “I have a lot of respect for him. On that play, nothing was intentional. I just got up and went back to the huddle, and that’s it.”

Host Adam Jones tried twice from there following a couple of unrelated questions from Sunday, along with whether or not he’d heard from the league but Mac shut him down.

“I kind of already answered that one,” he said. “So I’m good on that.”

Jones then asked him again if the league had reached out to him.

“I already talked about it, man, I’m going to be honest here.”

As of Monday, the NFL was reportedly investigating the incident and it will be interesting to see what fines, if any, come out of last Sunday’s match-up.

Brown Makes Interesting Comment

Trent Brown was caught on tape during Sunday’s game taking a play off, which was certainly a little disturbing, but after further review, that one moment, fortunately, seemed to be an anomaly.

Brown ended up with one of his better games in pass protection, which played a big role in the fact Mac Jones was able to remain upright for most of the afternoon as the Patriots won their first game of 2023 with a 15-10 victory over the Jets.

However, while speaking to reporters on Monday, Brown made a comment about his future that was interesting.

The veteran praised the club for the pay increase, while noting he’s also glad that he’ll be a free agent after the season.

“It was a nice raise, a nice gesture,” said Brown via Zack Cox of NESN.com. “And it still allowed me to be a free agent at the end of the year, so I’m appreciative of that. Now, it’s time to play ball.”

That comment about free agency obviously surprised reporters who were on hand, with the next question asking him if he does want to hit free agency.

“I’m just trying to play football, really,” said Brown. “I’m controlling what I can control in the meantime, and if God sees fit for me to be elsewhere, that’s just what it is.”

It’s a reminder that the Patriots still face the challenge of trying to build depth at that position. That leaves them relying on Brown to hopefully make it through the next 14 weeks both healthy and playing at a high level.

Regardless of Brown’s future, it’s still something that is absolutely going to need to be addressed next offseason, especially given how thin they are. Even worse, it may remain a problem if they don’t address part of it through free agency, largely due to the fact they don’t really have any young prospects there in the pipleline to develop.

Ekuale Suffers Significant Injury

There appears to be some bad news coming off of Sunday’s win, which could see New England be without one of their better run defenders.

Both Daniel Ekuale and Davon Godchaux were knocked out of the game on back-to-back plays down at MetLife, and it sounds like Ekuale’s is signficiant.

According to ESPN’s Mike Reiss, Ekuale suffered a torn biceps, which knocked him out of action Sunday and will likely sideline him for the foreseeable future.

The news is disappointing given that Ekuale has been a key contributor to the team, most notably against the run. The veteran also came up with a forced fumble by Breece Hall early in the contest, which the Jets were fortunate to recover.

He ended up playing a total of 10 snaps before leaving the game, with cameras seeing him hold his elbow as he sat on the sideline with what the team had initially reported as an “elbow” injury.

As for Godchaux, his injury was an ankle injury and his status isn’t known to this point.

For now, the Patriots will have to shuffle some things around up front, which could potentially see Sam Roberts called on heading into this weekend in Dallas.

Odds and Ends

Bill Belichick praised offensive tackle Vedarian Lowe’s efforts, with Belichick seeming pleased with what he’s seen from him. “I think he’s coming along,” said Belichick. “Tough matchup with the Jets and last week against Miami, but he’s hung in there pretty well, playing on the left side, this week on the right side. So, we’ll see how it goes moving forward here, but glad that we have him, good guy to work with.” … Belichick also noted the difference in the team’s pass protection, which he felt stemmed from the fact they weren’t having to overcome a deficit. “Well, one thing is not playing from behind and not having to throw the ball 50 times,” said Belichick. “It starts there.” … Former defensive back J.C. Jackson hasn’t had much luck since leaving New England and it sounds like he’s now got some legal issues to deal with. According to ESPN, he reportedly missed a probation violation hearing in Attleboro after failing to pay a $600 fine while also not completing the terms of his probation. Now, he has a warrant for his arrest. The incident stemmed from a reckless driving charge while he was in New England after he reportedly was charged with driving 100 mph. He hasn’t commented on the situation yet and this essentially adds insult to injury after being benched on Sunday during the Chargers’ battle against Minnesota.

About Ian Logue

Ian Logue is a Seacoast native and owner and senior writer for PatsFans.com, an independent media site covering the New England Patriots and has been running this site in one form or another since 1997.

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Tags: 2023 Jets vs Patriots 2023 Patriots Daniel Ekuale Davon Godchaux J.C. Jackson Mac Jones San Diego Chargers Sauce Gardner Trent Brown