During Monday night’s loss to the Seattle Seahawks, the Philadelphia Eagles were hit with a controversial penalty on one of their tush push plays when Jason Kelce was flagged for a false start after moving the ball slightly before the snap. But while fans might disagree with the call, it sounds like Kelce himself understands why the flag was thrown.
During his postgame press conference, Jason Kelce took ownership of the mistake, acknowledging that he has been warned about that infraction “for years” leading up to this game.
“They’ve been warning me of that for years,” Kelce said after the game according to Pro Football Talk. “I had a tendency to do that in the past so they’ve definitely warned me before. I’ve got to be smarter, especially in that situation.”
It also didn’t help that there were just inches to gain in that situation. Kelce thinks had it been a longer third-down conversion attempt, the referees likely wouldn’t have thrown the flag.
“I think if that’s a full yard to gain, probably not as much, but because it was so short, if I move it forward at all it’s going to be called, and I’ve just got to be smarter than that,” Kelce said.
Fans might not be happy about the flag, but it’s pretty clear that Kelce is blaming himself – not the referees.
