Orchard Park, N.Y. (WBEN) - Buffalo Bills fans looking for further explanation on the ruling following the Josh Allen hit will be interested in hearing what head of officiating for the NFL had to say on the play.
Allen sustained a head injury after being brought down by a helmet-to-helmet hit by Jonathan Jones in the opening minute of the fourth quarter. Allen was briefly evaluated under a tent on the sideline before being escorted up the tunnel.
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"There is no room in football for that," coach Sean McDermott said and questioned why Jones wasn't ejected.
Buffalo News Reporter Vic Carucci was the pool reporter who spoke with the NFL's Senior Vice President of Officiating Al Riveron. The Buffalo Bills released a transcript of the interview:
Carucci: Why wasn't Jonathan Jones disqualified for his hit on Buffalo QB Josh Allen?
Riveron: "Well, we looked at it and in this situation, we didn't feel that that contact rose to the level of an ejection. The player actually turns. Obviously, there is helmet contact, but we have standards for an ejection, and this did not rise to that standard; therefore, we did not eject him. There was a foul called and obviously the penalty stood, but we did not feel this contact rose to that level."
Carucci: Just to clarify, the fact that the Bills were penalized on the play didn't factor into Jones not being disqualified, correct?
Riveron: "One thing has nothing to do with the other. This contact, whether another team got penalized or not, has no bearing on how we look at the level of the foul when we get to disqualification."
Carucci: On the third interception that Josh Allen threw, which was intercepted by J.C. Jackson, the CBS broadcast raised a question to if it was a legitimate interception based on two factors: one that Bills receiver Zay Jones may have gone out of bounds and came back in on the play, and that Jackson did not have full control of the ball. Did you take an extra look at that?
"If one of us did that to 12, we wouldn't have been in the game anymore," Hyde said, referring to Brady's number. "That's our quarterback. We ride or die with him. To see that happen, Josh didn't slide, but at the end of the day it doesn't matter if you're a running back, you can't head to the head."
Jones defended the hit saying it was never his intent to hurt Allen.
"No malice or intent. Just a part of football," Jones said. "We're just running around playing football. I hope he's OK. I'm going to check on him."
