Sauce Gardner fails miserably in attempt to prove Mac Jones is a dirty player

As if the situation couldn't get any weirder, Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner has attempted to avoid a fine for his late hit on Mac Jones during the Patriots week three matchup. It was a moment that drew a lot of criticism, not just for what Gardner did but also for what Jets defenders did after the whistle was blown.

Things got aggressive when Jones was trying to get a first down, with C.J. Mosley continuing to try to bring the quarterback to the ground after the play. No flags were thrown despite the apparent unnecessary roughness used and the long list of protections officials have for instances like that.

And then, as Jones was attempting to get up from the ground, Gardner shoved him back down, and still, the officials just stood by and watched. It was a frustrating sequence for Patriots fans and was the latest questionable moment from the referees that day.

Both Gardner and Jones were asked about the altercation in their post-game media availability, and, of course, the Jet defended his actions. He suggested Jones touched him inappropriately and "was trying to stop me from having kids in the future." But when confronted with the accusation, Jones said nothing of the sort happened.

Despite replays not showing anything of the sort occurred, Garnder took to Twitter Monday morning and posted a very grainy video of the moment, claiming it proved what he said happened. He stated the post was to avoid being fined, but as we saw in real-time, the video doesn't prove his argument.

When initially speaking on the incident, Garnder claimed Jones hit him so hard "in the private parts" that he had to ice himself in the locker room. If that actually happened, how come he had no reaction when the alleged moment occurred? And even if Jones did do something, the video proves he didn't have any time to actually wind up or hit hard, so why would Gardner need to ice himself based on this?

It's all just a sorry attempt to add to the narrative that Jones is a dirty player. He's certainly had some questionable actions over his nearly three-year career in the NFL, but this should not be added to that.

Gardner is simply trying to avoid being fined and is attempting to justify his actions but failing miserably. Unfortunately, because he's the quarterback for the Patriots, the NFL has chosen to "investigate Gardner's claim" of what happened. Because, of course, they will.