The New England Patriots had every reason to be happy entering the half against the New York Jets on Sunday. Despite their 35-3 lead and a dominant performance in the game’s first two quarters, however, emotions ran high.
Cameras caught a heated exchange between Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel and defensive tackle Christian Barmore as the two teams left for the locker room.
What had happened? On the final play of the first half, with Barmore on the ground, Jets rookie offensive tackle Armand Membou
jumped into his back.
The action did not draw a flag, but unsurprisingly left the defender quite agitated. And while the situation did not escalate to a full-on brawl, it took multiple Patriots — including their head coach — to help calm Barmore down.
“Just reminding everybody to keep their composure,” Vrabel said after the game. “We have an identity that we’ve shown and that we’ve put out there on the football field, and make great decisions for the football team. We don’t want to give people free yards and that was it, just a reminder. Christian, they did a great job. The referee came over there and told me that both him and Cory Durden and everybody else were doing a good job trying not to get into anything after the whistle and after the play. I appreciate that. It was just a reminder.”
Even though the Patriots dominated proceedings very much from the get-go — they took a 7-0 lead on the game’s opening drive and ended up winning with a final score of 42-10 — there was considerable chippiness throughout the afternoon. Membou’s late hit on Barmore still stood out, however.
“The play was already over,” the veteran defensive lineman said after the contest (via the Boston Herald’s Doug Kyed). “I heard the whistle blown. Bro came behind me and literally landed his whole body on my back. I could have gotten hurt.”
As for his exchange with the head coach entering the locker room, Barmore echoed Vrabel’s remarks.
“Coach helped me calm down, because he saw what happened. He told me to keep my head in the game, because they were doing dirty stuff,” the 26-year-old explained.
“It’s for the team. We got to keep calm for the team. We already knew what they were doing, so we had to keep cool for the team. We got the win. Look at the scoreboard. I’m proud of my team, proud of us, proud of the D-line. We’re just going to keep getting better.”
