ORCHARD PARK -- The Patriots understand that the NFL wants to protect its quarterbacks. They understand how important players at that position are to the sport and its business model.
But they also understand that, as defenders, they're sometimes judged harshly for plays that might not actually violate what's written in the rulebook.
The topic du jour following New England's 16-10 win over Buffalo was the hit that Patriots corner Jonathan Jones laid on Bills quarterback Josh Allen.
On a third-and-eight snap, Allen scrambled to try to pick up a first down early in the fourth quarter. While being tackled by Duron Harmon, Allen started to go down. Jones came from the middle of the field and laid a violent hit to stop Allen in his tracks and prevent the conversion.
Jones was flagged immediately for unsportsmanlike conduct. He did make helmet-to-helmet contact with Allen, but he did not appear to lower his helmet to do so. Allen stands at 6-foot-5, while Jones is 5-9.
The unfortunate physics of a taller player falling and crashing into a hard-charging shorter player can lead to heads colliding. Allen was sent to the Bills locker room to be "evaluated" for what was an obvious concussion and did not return.
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Asked if he felt his hit deserved to be penalized, Jones didn't say.
"I have to see it on film," he insisted. "There's never any intent to hurt anyone when you're running around playing football. Definitely gotta check on him, make sure he's OK. But, like I said, there's no intent to hurt anybody. We're just running around playing football."
Asked about his teammate's hit, Harmon offered up an idea that isn't all that uncommon among defensive players.
"We all know J. Jones is a striker," Harmon said. "He can hit pretty hard. Just the way the league is, if it looks too hard, they're going to just call a penalty on it. It's unfortunate. We'll learn from it. We'll work through it. And we'll get better from it."
Harmon went on to explain that he understands why quarterbacks are protected the way they are. But the reality is that they lose any special protection when they leave the pocket. The lowering-the-helmet penalty on the books -- which was applied in this instance, rightly or wrongly -- applies to players at all positions.
"They always talk about protecting quarterbacks," Harmon said. "That's the league that we're in. Quarterbacks are the money makers, the leaders of their teams. They do a great job of just trying to protect them. We gotta find ways to tackle the right way and play fast. But when you play fast and you play physical, sometimes stuff like that happens."
The speed is difficult to manage, especially when trying to tackle a player who is in the process of going down. There's a strike zone players have to be cognizant of should they want to avoid a penalty, but it's a moving target.
"It's tough. It is extremely tough," Harmon said. "But we know the rules. We know what they're looking to call and sometimes it's gonna happen. Sometimes you're going to get the penalty for playing hard and playing fast. Other times you might just have to let it go. It's a fine line. We're going to learn from it."
Moments after the hit on Allen, Patriots linebacker Kyle Van Noy was penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct as well. He was flagged for hitting backup quarterback Matt Barkley during a double-pass attempt by receiver John Brown. Barkley made the initial pass and was contacted soon thereafter.
Van Noy smiled when asked about the penalty following the game.
"I don't know," he said when asked if he'd hit Barkley. "I guess. He may have done a good job acting. I like Matt, he's a good dude. But he lives in California. His acting skills were pretty good on that play."
Asked about the difficulties a defender faces in trying to help the league keep its quarterbacks healthy while also trying to tackle them, Van Noy stopped himself.
"I don't think I want to comment on that one," he said.
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