Bill Belichick fired back at the Jets on Tuesday about the pushing penalty from Sunday’s game.
Belichick was asked on a conference call about reports the Jets alerted the officials to the Patriots using an illegal technique of pushing teammates on field goals.
“Well, I mean, since they were using the play themselves I don’t even know about all that,” Belichick said. “But basically we’re just moving on here.”
Photo: Larry Brown Sports
Belichick had to be referring to the Patriots’ game-tying, 44-yard field goal in the fourth quarter. It appears on replays of the Stephen Gostkowski kick Jets lineman Quinton Coples gives teammate Muhammad Wilkerson a shove with his right arm.
Coples denied Belichick’s claim, laughing when he was relayed the Patriots’ coach’s comments during a groundbreaking event for a new playground at Central Park at Morris County.
“I don’t want to go into a back-and-forth argument or whatever, but Ben [Kotwica], who is our special teams coach, does a tremendous job of educating us as far as the rules change from year to year, what we can and what we can’t do,” Coples said, displaying restraint. “We know the rule.”
“[Belichick] spoke on it. At the end of the day, getting a win was more important and we’ll take it from there,” the second-year outside linebacker/defensive end said at the New Jersey park, where he was joined by several teammates as part of the NFL’s 15th annual Hometown Huddle, a league-wide day of service with the United Way.
While it probably is a penalty by the letter of the law, it does not appear to be a designed play like the one that drew the penalty on Chris Jones for shoving Will Svitek on Nick Folk’s 56-yard attempt in overtime.
Wilkerson was lined up between the guard and long snapper on the play. Coples was to his left over guard Logan Mankins. It appears Coples gets blocked and then gives Wilkerson a shove with his forearm.
“We beat the Patriots and we move forward,” Coples said. “At the end of the day, they can say whatever. We won, we beat them, we don’t see them no more this regular season. We’re moving forward with Cincinnati. I just worry about whatever happens in the Jets locker room.”
It’s just the latest chapter in the border war between the Jets and Patriots.
The Jets released RB Miguel Maysonet, a former star at Stony Brook, from their practice squad.