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Mac Jones won’t be getting hit where it hurts.
The Patriots quarterback, who Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner claimed hit him below the belt, has not been fined by the league, NFL Network insider Tom Pelissero reported Saturday.
Pelissero added that Gardner would have needed sufficient video evidence to prove Jones’ actions, but did not have it.
On Monday, Pro Football Talk reported that the NFL was investigating the incident, which happened during Sunday’s Week 3 game between the Jets and Patriots.
During the fourth quarter of the Jets’ 15-10 loss, Jones was tackled by linebacker C.J. Mosley, and then afterward, got in the face of the All-Pro defensive back.
After the game, Gardner alleged that the Patriots’ signal-caller hit him in his “private parts.”
“That’s probably the first time that ever happened to me,” Gardner said after the game. “He got tackled, and he reached his hand up to get me to help him up, and I just moved his hand out of the way.
“But then he got up and he just came up to me [saying], like, ‘Good job.’ But while he’s saying that, he hit me in my private parts.
“First time for everything I guess. … He’s trying to prevent me from having kids in the future.”
On Monday, one day after the alleged hit, Gardner posted on X, formerly Twitter, and posted a video of the play with the caption: “Posting this so I don’t get fined lol.”
During a Monday interview with WEEI in Boston, Jones denied doing anything intentionally to Gardner.
“Sauce is one of the best corners in the NFL. I have a lot of respect for him. On that play, nothing was intentional,” Jones said. “I just got up and went back to the huddle, and that’s it. … It’s football. Just trying to get up and go back to the huddle. And like I just said, nothing there.”
The two will get to square off — publicly — again on Jan. 7 at Gillette Stadium in New England.