Former Philadelphia Eagles running back LeGarrette Blount came to the defense of Derek Barnett on Thursday night.
Many fans around the NFL were tuned into Thursday Night Football to check out some of the NFC’s top teams going head to head. Therefore, many NFL fans were most likely upset with the fact that Derek Barnett delivered a dirty hit to Green Bay Packers running back, Jamaal Williams.
The entire series of events happened rather quickly in the first quarter. As the Packers had the ball with their backs against the wall, quarterback Aaron Rodgers tossed a quick screen to his running back. While the Philadelphia Eagles played it well, Derek Barnett came flying in with an utterly unnecessary hit to the head, which led to Williams getting carted off.
From that moment on, Barnett set social media on fire. Packers fans, general football fans, and even Eagles fans were upset with what they witnessed. Knowing that the third-year defensive end was entirely in the wrong, he caught a lot of heat for the play on social media while the game was going on. From that point, many viewed Barnett as a dirty player.
Now, Barnett is known for some undisciplined play — but Thursday night’s hit was by far the worst thing that he has done in the NFL to date. And even though the dirty hit came off as intentional, a former teammate of Barnett’s gave his own take on the situation, coming to Derek Barnett’s defense.
LeGarrette Blount gives his take on Barnett
Derek Barnett is a good kid that plays hard, he isn’t a dirty player what so ever! He just plays hard every play as he should. Was just an unfortunate play that’s all. Prayers up to Jamaal Williams 🙏🏿🙏🏿🙏🏿
— LeGarrette Blount (@LG_Blount) September 27, 2019
Two years ago, veteran NFL running back LeGarrette Blount was a part of the Philadelphia Eagles. He had the opportunity to play with Barnett during the former first-rounder’s rookie season in the NFL. While Blount acknowledges that the play was unfortunate, he makes it clear that he doesn’t believe Barnett is a dirty play by any means.
Barnett also put out a statement of his own on Friday morning regarding the play. He made it clear that it was not his intent to ‘headhunt’ Williams. Rather, he was trying to come in and make a play on the ball. Barnett remains in the wrong here, but he will likely pay for it next week as the NFL will certainly be sending a fine in the mail.