Patriots Captain Disputes ‘Dirty Player’ Label For Mac Jones

Is Mac Jones a dirty player? Not in the eyes of fellow New England Patriots captain Matthew Slater.

But Slater seemed to acknowledge that some of Jones’ actions — like the low block on Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Eli Apple that reportedly got him fined $11,139 — could earn the young quarterback that undesirable reputation.

“I don’t see it as such in terms of him being a dirty player,” the Patriots special teams ace said Tuesday in a video conference. “That’s not the person I know. That’s not the young man that I’ve gotten a chance to spend time around the last couple of years. I understand that narratives are made up of different people’s opinions, different people’s experiences with a person or with an organization or whatever it may be, and you can’t control those things.

“People are going to interpret events the way that they interpret them, and I think we can’t concern ourselves too much with that, because whatever we say is not going to change what people think or say about any particular player on this team.”

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Multiple current and former NFL players have publicly criticized Jones for diving at Apple during Saturday’s Patriots loss, with Apple himself calling it a “dirty play.”

“He’s done that before,” the Bengals corner told NESN.com after the game. “I’ve seen it.”

Jones previously drew the ire of fellow NFLers when he twisted Carolina Panthers edge rusher Brian Burns’ ankle last season and delivered a spikes-up slide into safety Jaquan Brisker’s groin during an October loss to the Chicago Bears.

“That’s our quarterback,” Slater said. “I have a lot of respect for him. I support him. I think he tries to play the game the right way. But that’s just one man’s opinion. That’s Matthew Slater’s opinion. As far as how everyone else feels about it, I can’t really speak to that, and I would encourage Mac to be confident in who he is.

“At the end of the day, you’re the person that has to live with yourself, look yourself in the eye in the mirror and go about life in a way that hopefully represents you and your family the best way. So we’ll leave that there, we’ll worry about Miami and we’ll let everyone else pontificate as they please.”

The Patriots will host the Dolphins this Sunday in a game they must win to keep their playoff hopes alive.