Bill Belichick didn’t like a lot of things in the New England Patriots’ loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday.
But one of his angriest moments at TIAA Bank Field appeared to come midway through the fourth quarter: During a Patriots punt on fourth-and-1, Jaguars linebacker Telvin Smith appeared to jump into the neutral zone. It should have been an offside penalty, but the Patriots didn’t snap the ball or react to Smith’s jump, allowing him to get back onside before snapping the ball and punting it away.
After the play, CBS’ cameras caught Belichick berating special teamer Brandon King — who was lined up opposite Smith — presumably telling King he should have reacted to draw the offside penalty.
In a conference call Monday, though, the Patriots coach let King off the hook.
“I wouldn’t fault anybody on this one,” Belichick said. “Could have worked out differently, but I think everybody is trying to do the right thing. I wouldn’t second-guess anybody on this one.”
Belichick then was asked if it was King’s responsibility to make contact with Smith when he jumped.
“I don’t think you’re reading it correctly at all. That’s not the rule,” Belichick responded. “The rule is, you don’t have to touch him, you just have to cause a reaction.
“The question is whether he was in the neutral zone or not, and if you’re standing right on the line of scrimmage, that’s one thing. When you’re the wing on the punt team (as King was), that’s another thing to make that determination as to whether he is or isn’t.
“So, it’s a close play. He probably was in the neutral zone. I wasn’t sure — it was a little hard to tell from the angle of the film that I saw.”
Belichick’s downplaying aside, this was a crucial play in the game: An offside call on fourth-and-1 would have extended the Patriots’ drive and given them a shot at making it a one-score game. On the very first play after New England’s punt, Blake Bortles hit Dede Westbrook for a 61-yard touchdown reception that put the Jaguars up 31-13 and essentially put the game out of reach.
Belichick insisted he didn’t entertain going for it on fourth down from the Patriots’ own 18-yard line, though.
“There was still eight minutes to go in that game, so I just felt like that was the right thing to do at that point,” he said.
