Jets' Jamal Adams sounds off on $21,000 fine for hit on Baker Mayfield
Jamal Adams didn’t hold back following a $21,000 fine for a hit he leveled on Monday night. The New York Jets safety called the league fine “B-------” on social media and promised to not change his aggressive style.
The fine came down from the NFL on Wednesday for Adams’ roughing the passer on Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield midway through the first quarter of Monday night's Jets loss. It was a questionable penalty from the Jets safety, given that he only made contact on Mayfield with his hands and arms (pushing him to the ground). Also, Adams was in stride and in his next step after Mayfield released the ball down the field.
It was a bit of a dubious call, only exacerbating Adams’ angst when he sounded off in a tweet Wednesday night that featured some profanity.
Former New York Jets cornerback Antonio Cromartie, who was selected to the Pro Bowl four times, said that the penalty on Adams wasn’t just the wrong call but so to was the ensuing fine.
“That’s just ridiculous. Are we playing two-hand touch or are we playing in one of the most physical sports?” Cromartie told FOX Business.
“Should not have been a fine at all. He didn’t land on him at all.”
New York Jets' Neville Hewitt (46) and Jamal Adams (33) celebrate with teammates after Neville Hewitt intercepted a pass during the first half of an NFL football game against the Buffalo Bills Sunday, Sept. 8, 2019, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo
Opinions differ when talking with someone who once blew the whistle on those calls. Jim Tunney, who served over three decades in the NFL as a referee, thinks that it is too difficult to gauge whether the right call was made with regards to Adams. Referees have thankless jobs, he said, and have to make gut decisions in the blink of an eye.
He also isn’t certain on how the NFL determines what is and isn’t a fine, joking that if fans were surprised by the penalty call, let alone the fine, “Then Adams was probably surprised too.”
Affectionately known as “The Dean of NFL Referees,” Tunney called the roughing the passer hit a “judgment call.”
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“I get to see it three or four times and he only saw it the one time and he saw it from that one hit,” Tunney told FOX Business. “If he felt that was the call, I can’t fault him. In real time, to say it was or was not an illegal hit, that’s a rough thing.”
During media availability on Wednesday, Adams claims that game officials apologized to the Jets coaching staff for the call.