Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons and Giants center Nick Gates will not be exchanging Christmas cards.
In the final minute of the Cowboys’ Thanksgiving win over the Giants, Parsons was flagged for unnecessary roughness on Gates, and since then the two of them have exchanged harsh words for each other.
Gates said Parsons “full-on punched” him in the chin to draw the penalty and that he expected the New York officiating office to throw him out of the game.
“I’m surprised he didn’t get ejected, but New York said it was open-handed. He’ll get [fined]. He must not like his money,” Gates said of Parsons, via Dan Duggan of TheAthletic.com.
Gates also said he got under Parsons’ skin, noting, “I’m not the best football player, so I’ve got to do other things to try to help out the team.”
Parsons saw that quote from Gates and didn’t take kindly to it, tweeting, “When he says others things that means play dirty, take cheap shots and try to hurt other opponents!! I’m never going to intentionally try and hurt another player but we constantly allow this in the league!”
The NFL will review both players’ actions for potential league discipline, and any fines would be announced on Friday.