Patriots QB Mac Jones wants to move on from Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner's low hit claim

NEW YORK — Patriots quarterback Mac Jones is tired of addressing his alleged hit between the legs of Jets cornerback Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner.

The quarterback declined to re-engage Wednesday about Gardner’s claim that Jones struck him in the “private parts” during the Patriots’ win Sunday, which Jones has denied doing.

“Just really focused on the Cowboys, trying to prepare for a good defense,” Jones said, according to ESPN, referring to New England’s Week 4 opponent. “That’s my focus — trying to control the controllables.”

Gardner reiterated his accusation Monday by posting a social media video showing Jones walk near the cornerback, who is then seen shoving the quarterback. The Athletic’s Dianna Russini later shared footage containing a different, closer angle of the exchange.

Jones has claimed there was no intent. The on-field incident was the latest involving Jones, who was previously accused of playing dirty in 2021 when he grabbed the ankle of the Panthers’ Brian Burns and last year when he slid with his leg extended toward the Bears’ Jaquan Brisker.

“I won’t call Mac a dirty player because I know him personally and I think he’s a good dude, he’s a good kid,” former teammate Devin McCourty said on Boston’s WEEI radio station. “But I will say, he has to stop being around these incidents.”

The Jets fell to 1-2 with the loss but say they are sticking with quarterback Zach Wilson, who replaced Aaron Rodgers after his season-ending Achilles tear in Week 1.

The Jones-Gardner saga is one of several storylines from Sunday’s game to spill over. During an appearance Monday on 98.7 ESPN New York’s “The Michael Kay Show,” Jets great Joe Namath said he doesn’t believe Wilson “has a future as a good player.”

Then on Tuesday, Rodgers was critical of teammates having outbursts on the sideline, saying on “The Pat McAfee Show” that the Jets “need to grow up a little bit on offense.”