Nick Mangold sparked a scrum during Thursday night's game between the New York Jets and the New England Patriots when he hit cornerback Aqib Talib out of bounds in the final minute of regulation.
Nick Mangold on late hit: Aqib Talib ‘was in bounds,’ according to Jets center
Nick Mangold said he was just trying to make a tackle on the play that nearly sparked a brawl at the end of Thursday night’s game between the Jets and the Patriots.
Mangold appeared to dive at Talib's knees after the cornerback made a game-clinching interception and players from both benches promptly met along the Patriots' sideline. After the game, Mangold told the Newark Star-Ledger that he thought that he made a good tackle.
“I didn’t do anything,” Mangold said. “I made the tackle. He was along the sideline. I obviously could not play defense in this league because I thought he was still in bounds, so I tried to make a tackle.”
Judging intent from replays is always tricky business, especially when trying to determine whether an offensive player meant to make a dirty tackle or not. That didn’t stop proceedings from getting out of hand, however.
According to Mangold, Patriots head coach Bill Belichick was particularly irate:
“He got heated about it,” Mangold said. “I was a little surprised by that. I figured he’d have a little bit more poise. But it’s obviously an intense game, intense rivalry and tempers flare. I’m not really sure (what Belichick said). I didn’t catch it. There was a decent amount of yelling. So I couldn’t tell you. You’ll have to go to the NFL mics. I’m sure they’ve got plenty around.”
That play resulted in an ugly end to what was a brutal game.
The Patriots won 13-10 in a game that was marred by rain and egregious dropped passes as both Geno Smith and Tom Brady completed fewer than 50 percent of their attempts in the matchup. Patriots rookies Aaron Dobson and Kenbrell Thompkins each had just five receptions on a combined 17 targets.
More from SB Nation NFL:
See More:
