In the heat of the moment, after the Bengals saw a win turn into a loss after back-to-back penalties on Vontaze Burfict and Pacman Jones gave the Steelers a 35-yard field goal, Jones suggested that the hit that sparked the 30-yard swing didn’t actually injure Pittsburgh receiver Antonio Brown.
After having a chance to cool off, Jones still believes Brown wasn’t hurt.
“I know he was faking,” Jones told The Dan Patrick Show on Monday.
Jones, who tried to insist that Brown was barely hit in the head, claimed that Brown winked at Jones on his way off the field.
“I think he need a Grammy Award for that one,” said Jones, who previously offered to give Brown an Oscar.
As to the flag thrown on Jones after the flag thrown on Burfict, Jones said the penalty came from making contact with an official. But Jones was upset that Steelers linebackers coach Joey Porter was on the field.
“He was just over there calling them bitches,” Jones said of Porter’s interactions with other Bengals players.
“Coaches are held to a higher standard than players,” Jones said. “Period, point blank.” He added that offensive line coach Mike Munchak should have been ejected after pulling the hair of Bengals safety Reggie Nelson during a bizarre first-half sideline altercation.
Jones also said that the hit from Steelers linebacker Ryan Shazier on Bengals running back Gio Bernard was worse than the hit on Brown (more on that later).
Pacman also disputed reports that some unnamed Bengals players think coach Marvin Lewis has failed to control the team’s defensive players, both on Saturday night and throughout the year. And Jones firmly believes that Lewis should return.
Jones, who is due to become a free agent, may not return to Cincinnati. There’s a good chance he also won’t be signing with Pittsburgh.
Then again, given the gift he provided to the Steelers on Saturday night, maybe he already has earned his signing bonus there. Or at least a Grammy.