Members of the Patriots and Bills came together for a serving of pregame pushing and shoving on Sunday in Foxboro and it started when Bills safety Robert Blanton made contact with Patriots quarterback Jacoby Brissett while Brissett was jogging on the field.
After the 16-0 Bills win, Blanton explained, via Ryan Hannable of WEEI, that Brissett and Patriots wide receiver Malcolm Mitchell were “extremely disrespectful” for jogging through the Bills’ defensive backs drills twice. Cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman also addressed what happened before the game.
“A couple of their guys came on our side of the field and were running through our DB drills,” Robey-Coleman said in comments distributed by the Patriots. “It got a little intense and then it got a little rough. We knew they were trying to get in our heads and make us do things that we didn’t want to do. We couldn’t let them do that.”
Mitchell responded to Blanton’s shove of Brissett and things escalated from there. Mitchell said after the game that he hoped the situation doesn’t repeat itself, but that he did what he thought was right at the time.
“At the time I did what I thought was best,” Mitchell said. “Am I right or wrong? I don’t know. I just did what I thought was best at that particular time. ... I think people just handle situations differently. Would I walk away from it? If I feel like it will help the team, yes.”
The two teams meet again on October 30, so we’ll see if history repeats itself before the month is out.