Time has not helped Falcons defensive tackle Grady Jarrett understand what happened Sunday against the Buccaneers. His big-play sack on Tom Brady in the final minutes of his team’s game against Tampa Bay was controversially flagged for roughing the passer and the penalty helped cost his team the game.
In his weekly appearance on 680 The Fan in Atlanta, he addressed the flag for the first time since postgame Sunday. He said he was too emotional to speak clearly on the topic immediately after the game but even now he is in “not a little but a lot disbelief.”
“Just looking back on it, I’m still kind of left clueless,” Jarrett said, per ESPN. “On what I’m expected to do in that situation.”
Jarrett was flagged on the play for “unnecessarily throwing him [Brady] to the ground,” NFL referee Jerome Boger told reporters. Because of the flag on third down, the Buccaneers got a new set of downs and were able to run out the clock to win the game 21–15.
“The thing that hurt me the most was my team not being allowed to have the opportunity to go do what we need to do, you know,” Jarrett said, per ESPN. “Like I said, nobody knows if we go out there and we go get a touchdown. I’m not saying that lost us the game.
“I’m saying all we wanted was an opportunity that we, as a whole team, staff and organization earned in that moment, you know,” he continued. “That’s unfortunate that it had to go down like that.”
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