The game may be over, but the trash talking certainly isn’t. The New England Patriots and New York Jets continue to attack each other — this time regarding postgame celebrations.
Patriots wide receiver Deion Branch got things going when he had some choice words for the behavior of Jets players following Sunday’s 28-21 loss in Foxboro.
“It was a lot of classless play on the football field after the game, but you have to expect that from some of the guys over there,” Branch said. “They beat us when it mattered, so the ones with class, I shook their hands. The other ones, I didn’t. They don’t deserve my nor my teammates’ congratulations for them to act like that. You can tell they’re not used to being in this position.”
Branch’s comments were in regards to the antics that ensued following the Jets’ win. He claims that after the game, some New York players taunted the fans that chose to remain at Gillette Stadium, giving them the finger and mocking them, the Boston Herald reports.
“That’s their style,” he told the Herald. “You have to expect that. They’re going to do that from now until they’re gone. Half the guys on the field, it was shameful, the guys with no class. That stuff comes back to bite you.”
Not surprisingly, the Jets responded on Monday and had a different reaction to their postgame activities.
According to ESPN.com, cornerback Darrelle Revis said that Branch just needs to move on. He also claims that the Patriots themselves are just as guilty of excessive celebration, citing what went on following the Patriots’ 45-3 romp of the Jets during the regular season.
“If they would have won, I’m sure they would have probably did … the taunting, like they do,” he said. “Last game we played them, their secondary was doing the ‘airplane’ [a Jets celebration] and just teasing us. So you’ve got to take it both ways when you win or lose. When you play, just try to prove people wrong and win the game, that’s all I can say.”
In fact, the way the Patriots acted following their 45-3 pounding of the Jets in December may have been used as “Jet fuel” on Sunday.
The New Jersey Star-Ledger reported on Monday the Jets actually watched footage of the taunting as motivation before Sunday’s game, and they were particularly bothered by Branch’s comments.
Jets center Nick Mangold said Branch’s reaction was “high schoolish,” considering the Patriots did the same thing.
