Cleveland Browns right tackle Dawand Jones appeared to commit a false start penalty that wasn't called during the Browns’ winning drive in a 27-24 victory against the Tennessee Titans on Oct. 25.
The replay shows Jones pushing off his left foot to pass protect before center Elgton Jenkins snaps the ball to Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson. Watson got Cleveland into field-goal range with a 36-yard completion to Harold Fannin Jr. on the play with 28 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter.
The Titans (1-6) tackled poorly after the catch, allowing Fannin to reach Tennessee's 19-yard line, and Browns kicker Andre Szmyt made the winning 32-yard field goal two plays later as time expired.
"I’ll have to look at the tape," Titans coach Robert Saleh said
when asked about it afterward. "It looked like from live, I think they did (false start), yeah."
A false start penalty would have pushed the Browns (5-2) back to first-and-15 at their own 40-yard line with two timeouts remaining.
Jones is listed as a backup left tackle on the Browns' depth chart but has played on the offensive line at right tackle in two of seven games this season.
Tennessee led 14-0 in the first quarter and was outscored 27-10 the rest of the way.
“We could’ve taken the life away from that team when we had the chance,” Titans defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons said. “(The call) doesn’t matter. I felt like there were a lot of opportunities for us to do that. I’m not going to go off and say ‘false start’ or (blame) referees.”
Tyler Palmateer covers the Tennessee Titans for The Tennessean. Have a story idea for Tyler? Reach him at tpalmateer@tennessean.com and on the X platform, @tpalmateer83.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: What Robert Saleh said about apparent Browns false start in Titans' loss
