Fans watching Monday Night Football collectively recoiled as they saw Carolina Panthers safety Tre’Von Moehrig direct a hit at San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Jauan Jennings’ groin. And while Jennings, 28, didn’t retaliate in the moment, he made sure to do so after the game.
As the two teams were exchanging pleasantries following the 49ers’ 20-9 win on Monday, November 24, Jennings hit Moehrig, 26, in the facemask before shoving him as members of both teams tried to separate the two.
“I was just responding to some childish behavior,” Jennings told reporters after the game.
He added that while Moehrig’s hit came “out of nowhere,” he understands his own reputation as someone whose game is more physical than others at his position.
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“I think it’s probably just like I was saying, just the history of me playing ball,” he said, “I play hard. I’m physically stronger than a lot of DBs out there and a lot of things happen in between the whistles. With me at least.”
Moehrig gave his side of the story as well, telling the media that Jennings was pushing him and “talking crazy” during the game.
“He was just doing some extra stuff after the play,” Moehrig said. “I’ll take that one. It wasn’t just frustration. It was isolated.”
49ers coach Kyle Shanahan had his wide receiver’s back, praising him for not reacting in the moment to what he called a “cheap shot.”
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“I was really proud of Jauan for not losing his mind out there and getting to the sideline,” he said.
Carolina coach Dave Canales, for his part, said that while he hadn’t yet seen video of the entire incident, he would review the film and speak to Moehrig about it.
“I’ll get to the bottom of that,” he said. “I want to see exactly what happened. I haven’t had the chance to talk to Tre about that yet. That’ll be a conversation.”
The 49ers’ next game is Sunday, November 30 against the Cleveland Browns, while the Panthers will play that same afternoon against the Los Angeles Rams. The league will review the fight and could hand down suspensions to one or both players on Tuesday, according to NFL Network’s Tim Pelissero. That would seem likely, considering the NFL appears to be cracking down on such extracurriculars.
The NFL announced on November 18 that it suspended Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase for one game without pay after cameras caught him spitting on the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Jalen Ramsey two days prior. Though Chase, 25, initially denied it, he later issued an apology via Instagram.
“What I did was wrong,” he wrote in the statement, posted on Monday. “The circumstances don’t matter. My passion for the game is no excuse. There’s zero place in our sport — or in life — for that level of disrespect.”
“I want to personally apologize to everyone within the Pittsburgh Steelers organization,” he continued. “I let my emotions in the moment get the better of me. I can only hope and trust you know none of it represents who I am — not as a competitor, teammate, or person.”
