New England Patriots
“I don’t wanna make it a ‘snapgate.’ Which I probably already did.”
A day after Atlanta Falcons head coach Raheem Morris accused the Patriots of simulating Atlanta’s snap count in an eventual 24-23 New England victory, Morris walked back some of his comments as talk of “clapgate” started to circulate across the NFL.
“I don’t wanna make it a ‘snapgate,’” the Falcons coach told reporters on Monday. “Which I probably already did.”
After Sunday’s loss, Morris didn’t mince words when harping on a potential rules violation committed by the Patriots in which they “simulated a snap” by mimicking Atlanta QB Michael Penix Jr.’s clapping.
“They did a nice job. They simulated a snap,” Morris said. “The ball came early, was snapped early. Within that snap, that was when we got the intentional grounding. Nice job by those guys. Great situational football. Great play. Got to snap the ball. That’s why the ball was snapped early on Mike. He wasn’t ready for the snap.”
The sequence occurred late in the fourth quarter as the Falcons were trying to march down the field and push themselves into field-goal range for a potential game-winning kick.
On a 2nd-and-20 play from New England’s 48-yard line, Penix immediately threw the football away after Milton Williams exploded through the line of scrimmage — leading to a 10-yard intentional grounding penalty.
That infraction pushed Atlanta back en route to a stalled drive and an eventual Patriots win.
According to NFL rules, defensive players are not allowed to simulate the offense’s snap count and “disconcerting signals” will lead to a 15-yard penalty.
“Supposedly they were clapping,” Penix Jr. said postgame of the Patriots. “For us, whenever I’m clapping, that means I want the ball.
“I knew [Falcons center Ryan Neuzil] said he heard them clapping,” Penix Jr. added, “and he thought it was my clap, and he snapped the ball. I threw the ball in [Kyle Pitts’] direction. He had just released on a route. I thought I was going to be okay with the grounding part. Obviously that wasn’t the case.”
But on Monday, Morris clarified his take on the matter — acknowledging that he was frustrated after the loss and was echoing what his players had told him after the game.
“This was our players telling us they simulated the snap out there. They heard something, obviously they did, that’s why he snapped it,” Morris said. “This was no intent that [New England] did anything wrong. There was no intent that those guys did anything wrong.
“It was snapped early for our fault, it was on us,” Morris added. “We gotta find a way if the ball gets snapped early to try to get the intentional grounding to the right guy. Obviously (it’s) hard with a free unblocked runner coming at you. We can’t snap the ball early no matter what anybody does. It’s gotta be more about us. That was just me being angry yesterday. Somebody asked me what happened. I was just being honest with what the guys told me coming off the grass.”
Despite the Patriots’ long history of getting embroiled in league controversies like “Spygate” and “Deflategate,” New England head coach Mike Vrabel was bemused when asked about the Falcons comments on Monday morning during his weekly interview on WEEI.
“Quarterbacks when they want the ball, it’s like (loud clapping). I didn’t see anybody doing that,” Vrabel said on “The Greg Hill Show.” “And then, we don’t do the clap, I can see when the quarterback, it’s the silent count, it’s like (soft claps). But I didn’t see anybody do that.
“Clapgate. That was new. I didn’t see that. Maybe that’s a testament to our fans,” Vrabel added. “They got loud, and I could hear the energy. But … I didn’t see anything.”
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