New England Patriots' Mac Jones Dodges Question on Dirty Play vs. New York Jets' Sauce Gardner?

New England Patriots quarterback Mac Jones was asked about his viral incident with New York Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner, but opted to pass on answering.

It was the play heard 'round the world - or at least the northeast ... and, really, it wasn't even a play.

The moment came during the New England Patriots' 15-10 win over the New York Jets this past Sunday, when Patriots quarterback Mac Jones allegedly hit Jets corner Sauce Gardner below the belt, stirring only controversy after the latter spoke out postgame.

Posting this so I don’t get fined lol pic.twitter.com/2KjcAVTNsW

— SAUCE GARDNER (@iamSauceGardner) September 25, 2023

Jones was asked during his weekly press conference Wednesday about the incident with Gardner and his budding reputation as a "dirty player" but opted instead to talk about the next challenge on New England's schedule, the Dallas Cowboys.

"Like I said earlier, just really focused on the Cowboys as you can see," Jones said. "Just trying to prepare for a good defense and that's my focus. Trying to control the controllables. Looking forward to building this week.

"So, Prime Time game in a great stadium with a great football culture, so that's what I'm kind of looking forward to."

Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner pushes Patriots quarterback Mac Jones after the whistle / USA Today

Now in his third year out of the University of Alabama, Jones has been involved with a number of prior controversies in similar situations, including an ankle twist on Carolina Panthers outside linebacker Brian Burns and a sliding undercut on then-Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Eli Apple.

Jones' first teammate, defensive back Devin McCourty, said on The Greg Hill Show Wednesday that you "can't keep defending the same things" but noted the 25-year-old isn't a dirty player or person.

Instead, McCourty believes Jones is simply stepping over the boundary of competitive edge, which he has plenty of. Further video evidence showed that Jones' actions followed Gardner pushing his hand away when trying to get up after being tackled by C.J. Mosely in a dog pile.

Nonetheless, Jones has drawn the most criticism - but is clearly ready to move ahead and focus on Week 4, when the Patriots travel to Dallas this Sunday for a 4:25 p.m. EST kickoff inside AT&T Stadium.