Tedy Bruschi is calling on Bill Belichick to give Chandler Jones the Wes Welker treatment.
Jones has been in the news for all the wrong reasons after the news broke the New England Patriots defensive end needed medical attention Sunday morning, reportedly for a bad reaction to synthetic marijuana. Jones spoke publicly Thursday for the first time since the incident, apologizing for what he called a “mistake.”
Bruschi said Thursday on ESPN, however, that he thinks Belichick needs to come down on Jones, even saying the Patriots head coach should punish Jones in some way by benching him for part of Saturday’s AFC Divisional Round game against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Bruschi elaborated during a Thursday evening “SportsCenter” appearance.
“I think this was a distraction to the team,” Bruschi said. “And Chandler Jones, I was glad to see in the locker room today, he apologized for it and he mentioned how it was a mistake and how he wanted to apologize. But still, the mistake, this is an embarrassment to the organization. What happened, we’re talking about things like synthetic marijuana now. These words are coming up, was it that?
“I hope they gather all their facts and if discipline is warranted, maybe it needs to be. Bill Belichick has enforced discipline on players for being a distraction in crucial weeks before.”
Belichick does have a history of disciplining players, even during the playoffs. Most notably, Belichick sat down wide receiver Wes Welker for a series in a 2011 divisional round game against the New York Jets, presumably for Welker’s public dig at then-Jets head coach Rex Ryan.
Thumbnail photo via Winslow Townson/USA TODAY Sports Images
