Patriots Mascot 'Sore' After Unexpected Hit From Jets Safety Jamal Adams At Pro Bowl
BOSTON (CBS) – Since they're playing in the Super Bowl, the Patriots only have one representative at the Pro Bowl this weekend in Orlando. And he had a rough Wednesday in the festivities leading up to the game.
Pat Patriot, New England's mascot, was on the receiving end of a viral video. Jets safety Jamal Adams was signing autographs when he saw Pat nearby and paused.
"I'm gunna go knock this mascot out," Adams says before getting a running start and delivering a massive tackle.
This one is for every Patriots hater out there! I got y'all! pic.twitter.com/q0WAbDfrpL
— Jamal Adams (@Prez) January 24, 2019
Twitter users were divide about if the tackle was staged, but a Patriots spokesman told WBZ-TV it was not planned in advance.
Adams told a reporter Thursday he had heard the man in the suit was hospitalized. The Patriots spokesman described the unidentified man as "sore."
Despite the big hit, Pat had some fun with the incident on Twitter.
Hate us cause they ain't us ???? https://t.co/8UxlYbAZ75
— Pat Patriot (@PatPatriot) January 23, 2019
No flag was thrown on the play, despite possible targeting on a defenseless receiver.
The jokes wrote themselves when the video was posted. It was probably the best play of the season by a player on the 4-12 Jets.
On Thursday, Adams said he is getting some "heat" for the tackle.
"They're not happy with me. The NFL is calling my phone, blowing me up, saying I put him in the hospital. So I have to go check on him. But do I regret it? No!" Adams told Dianna Russini of ESPN.
In a separate interview later Thursday afternoon, Adams said he didn't intend to hurt the mascot.
"He [the mascot] was running around and everybody was booing him, so I said, 'You know what? Let me go tackle him,'" Adams said, via ESPN. "I didn't hit him that hard, man. All jokes aside, I didn't hit him that hard. I don't know what's really going on, but they did tell me he's in the hospital. My intention was never to hurt him. it was all about just a joke but I definitely want to check on him and make sure everything is good. At the end of the day we were out here just having fun and it wasn't nothing intentionally to try to hurt the guy."