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Last night, Jets safety Jamal Adams posted a video on Twitter of himself playfully tackling the Patriots mascot at the Pro Bowl skills challenge.
This one is for every Patriots hater out there! I got y’all! pic.twitter.com/q0WAbDfrpL
— Jamal Adams (@Prez) January 24, 2019
Today Adams told ESPN that someone from the NFL notified him that the person in the Patriots mascot outfit had to be hospitalized following the hit.
Jets S Jamal Adams said Thursday afternoon that he was not trying to injure the Patriots mascot when he tackled him during the NFL Pro Bowl Skills Challenge on Wednesday. Adams said he was told the person inside the mascot costume was hospitalized on… https://t.co/8SqCQK2UwW
— Michael DiRocco (@ESPNdirocco) January 24, 2019
Adams issued an apology and said that he wasn’t trying to hurt the Pats’ mascot.
Via ESPN
He [the mascot] was running around and everybody was booing him, so I said, ‘You know what? Let me go tackle him,’ Adams said. “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.”
The Jets safety would later speak to Diana Russini and while he was sorry about hurting the mascot he doesn’t “regret it”.
Since most of us saw Jamal Adams’s video of him tackling the Patriot mascot…he’s been getting heat for it… Does he regret it? pic.twitter.com/ecG2zQVnO7
— Dianna Russini (@DMRussini) January 24, 2019
Despite the fact that he was just joking with the mascot, Adams caught some flack from people like Skip Bayless over the tackle.
Just watched the video of Jamal Adams getting a running start & knocking down the Patriots mascot, then celebrating with Pro Bowl teammates. Hey, if you can't beat (or knock down) real Patriot players, guess you have to take it out on their mascot. Enjoy the Super Bowl, Jamal.
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) January 24, 2019
Skip, Please make up your damn mind! Are you a Pats fan or a Cowboys fan! Stop actin like drake switching sides every week! https://t.co/iOALcdzBW8
— Jamal Adams (@Prez) January 24, 2019
The NFL has yet to comment on the status of the Pats mascot but they have deleted the video from their social media networks after sharing it last night.
Update: Apparently the guy was indeed shaken up by the hit but was never sent to the hospital.
A Patriots spokesman, however, contradicted that account by telling the radio station WEEI that the person in the costume did not have to go to a hospital but needed on-site medical attention and was shaken up by the hit.
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