Chung On Toucher & Rich: 'Not Worried About Things We Can't Control'
BOSTON (CBS) - Patriots safety Patrick Chung joined 98.5 The Sports Hub's Toucher & Rich on Tuesday, but did not want to say much about the NFL's replacement referees.
"I'm not going to talk about it man. I wish I could, but I can't," said Chung. "We get paid to play; they get paid to ref --temporarily. We have to take it how it goes."
Chung saw Monday night's referee debacle, which cost Green Bay the game, but says the Patriots are not worried about the officiating.
"Here man, we're not worried about things we can't control,' he said. "We can't do anything about it. If we argue it's going to be worse. That's something we can't control. We just have to move on, try to make a play to make up for it."
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"We can't worry about things we can't control," he echoed.
Teammate Brandon Spikes took to Twitter following the loss to the Ravens, and showed his disgust with the replacement refs. Chung said the team was talked to about showing their disdain for the replacement refs, but that discussion is "confidential."
With the replacement refs blowing calls and costing teams games, they have also slowed game-play down dramatically. What kind of effect does this have during the game?
"It can make a huge impact and sometimes it can help. If guys are tired and something happens, a messed up call or whatever it may be, you might be able to catch your breath. On the other hand, it might destroy a two-minute or no-huddle situation. It can go both ways. You just have to take it how it comes.
The Patriots now sit at 1-2 after their 31-30 loss to the Ravens. For a team that hasn't been under .500 since 2003, was there a different approach at practice on Monday?
"We're good. We played hard, played a good game. Things didn't work out for us, but we're not hanging out heads," said Chung. "We're getting ready for Buffalo. It's early in the season and there's a lot of football to be played."
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Up next for the Patriots are the Buffalo Bills, who they dropped one of their two matchups with last season.
"They're good. They're explosive at running back and have a quarterback that has a good arm. He's going to throw it in very confident," Chung said of Buffalo's QB Ryan Fitzpatrick. "They're coming off a win. They're hot so we have to be ready for them. Special teams are good, they have a lot of players that can do some damage."
