Mac Jones Responds to Sauce Gardner’s Dirty Hit Accusation
By Tyler Maher

Football rivalry games tend to get a bit chippy, especially that rivalry is as one-sided as Patriots-Jets. New England earned its 15th straight win over New York on Sunday with a 15-10 victory in Week 3 at MetLife Stadium.
And sure enough, some bad blood emerged during the course of the game. Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner pushed Mac Jones down after one play, starting a mini-brawl on the field. The fight was quickly cleared up, but Gardner told reporters what happened after the game.
“He’s trying to stop me from having kids in the future. He’s tripping.”
— NESN (@NESN) September 24, 2023
Jets star Sauce Gardner claimed Mac Jones hit him in his “private parts” during the Patriots’ win at MetLife Stadium. https://t.co/4Kw6dCaysl
Mac Jones Dirty Hit
According to Gardner, Jones hit him in the one area where you’re really not supposed to hit other players, and Gardner didn’t appreciate it.
Jones has earned a bit of a reputation around the league as a dirty player since debuting in 2021, frequently having to defend himself against allegations of tripping and other misconduct.
For his part, Jones denied any wrongdoing on Sunday.
Patriots QB Mac Jones denied Sauce Gardner’s low-blow accusations after Sunday’s win over the Jets. https://t.co/6OuG70Ud38
— Doug Kyed (@DougKyed) September 24, 2023
Given Jones’ track record, however, it’s hard to believe him. Gardner’s reaction was intense for a reason, and his explanation makes sense.
If Jones had never done something like this before, we’d probably be more inclined to believe him and wave off Gardner’s accusations as ridiculous. Unfortunately, however, I’m more inclined to trust an enemy player than my own quarterback.
Jones won the game, and at the end of the day that’s all that really matters to Patriots fans. But it would be nice if he stopped these shenanigans and starting fights with other players. His teammates are probably sick of defending him at this point, and one day it might finally come back to haunt him.