Sam Darnold’s opener was derailed in a hurry Wednesday night, and the play that sent him to the sideline quickly turned into a social media flashpoint.
Early in the third-down sequence, New England defensive lineman Dre’Mont Jones came from behind to bring Darnold down as the quarterback tried to extend the play. Darnold limped off with a hip injury, briefly waved away trainers, then eventually made his way to the medical tent before later going to the locker room.
The Patriots lost the game 13-10, but Jones still had something to celebrate the next day. He posted a photo of the sack on Instagram and wrote, “Year 8.
First NFL sack of the season. Gotta win the close ones but we will next time #gopats.”
That didn’t go over well with plenty of fans, who pushed back hard at both the timing and the tone. “st i’d be mad too if a team cut me then immediately won the bowl😂 enjoy your dogst QB tho bro🙏,” one fan replied. “corny af posting video clip of someone getting injured,” another wrote. “Almost beat your sack total in Seattle in one game atta boy,” someone else shared.
The reaction centered on two things: Jones celebrating an individual stat line in a loss, and doing it in connection with a hit that knocked an opponent out of the game. For a lot of people, that crossed a line.
Jones’s Seattle connection also gave the post extra edge. He spent 2023 and 2024 with the Seahawks before the team moved on from him, a move that came before Seattle’s Super Bowl LX championship run without him. That backdrop likely made Wednesday night feel a little more personal for him.
New England brought Jones in on a three-year, $39.5 million deal in March, giving him a fresh start after stops in Tennessee and Baltimore following his release from Seattle. He entered the week with 37.5 career sacks across four franchises, and Wednesday’s takedown was his first of the season.
Darnold’s recovery remains up in the air. Head coach Mike Macdonald said there’s no fracture, but further testing is ongoing as Seattle gets ready for its next game without a clear timeline on when its starting quarterback will be back.
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DreMont Jones Just Turned A Painful Patriots Hit Into Drama
DreMont Jones made his presence felt early in the Patriots season opener, flattening Sam Darnold on a sack that led to a hip injury and quickly became one of the nights most talked-about moments. Even in a loss, the play gave New England at least one hard-hitting highlight to point back to, and Jones leaned into it by posting video of the hit on social media afterward.
Mike Macdonald later offered some relief by confirming there is no fracture, but the bigger question around Darnold is still the same: how long will this keep him out? For the Patriots, the injury added another layer to a game they already wanted to put behind them, while Jones' post kept the moment alive long after the final whistle. [Read more 🡒]
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