Devin McCourty says Mac Jones has to stop involvement in dirty incidents

Ever since Mac Jones’ rookie year, claims that he is a dirty player have followed the young Patriots quarterback.

Following New York Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner’s accusation Jones hit him with a cheap shot below the belt during New England’s 15-10 win on Sunday, former Patriots captain Devin McCourty stopped short of calling his former teammate a dirty player but said he has to stop being involved in controversial incidents.

“I won’t call Mac a dirty player because I know him personally, and I think he’s a good dude, he’s a good kid. But I will say he has to stop being around these incidents,” McCourty said on WEEI’s “The Greg Hill Show” Wednesday. “Like, it won’t matter what any former teammate says, current teammate says. It’s getting to the point where, is it on purpose? Did this happen? Is it intentional? Like, it’s not gonna matter because once you’re involved in too many of these situations, it is what it is.”

“There’s a lot of players that have played this game, and they’re not involved in any of these things. So I think he does need to do a better job of finding his way out of whatever it is you wanna call it, the twisting of [Carolina Panther Brian Burns’] ankle, I think Chicago it was the kick on a slide or something and even last year, cutting my guy, the corner in Miami, Eli Apple, all of these different things. You can’t keep defending the same thing,” the player-turned-NBC analyst added. “I think somewhere along the line his competitive edge he’s doing things you don’t really need to have on the football field ever.”

With the Patriots facing third-and-1 from the Jets 45 early in the fourth quarter, Jones pushed forward to try to get a first down on a quarterback sneak. He was stuffed by several New York defenders but kept churning his legs after the whistle blew. Jones got into it with several Jets players, and linebacker C.J. Mosley slammed the quarterback to the turf. When Jones got up, Gardner said the Patriots player bumped into him and the Jets cornerback shoved him after he said he took an inappropriate shot below the belt.

The following day, Gardner posted a video on social media showing the alleged act.

In a meeting with reporters Wednesday, Jones deflected questions regarding the incident, saying he was focused on preparing for Sunday’s game against the Dallas Cowboys.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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