It turned into an ugly moment for the San Francisco 49ers when Tre'von Moehrig of the Panthers took a low blow at Jauan Jennings. And the 49ers' receiver did not stutter about Moehrig’s “childish” cheap shot to his nuts.
It wasn’t NFL-acceptable behavior. And Jennings said his response was warranted, according to ESPN.
“I was just responding to some childish behavior,” Jennings said about his postgame actions.
49ers WR Jauan Jennings gives his side of story
Jennings said he didn’t expect that kind of behavior from Moehrig.
“That was just out of nowhere,” Jennings said. “I think it's probably just like I was saying, just the history of me playing ball. 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 tried to defend his actions, for some reason.
“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.”
Asked if his response was justified, Moehrig said, “It is what it is.”
Panthers head coach Dave Canales said he will let the film do the talking.
“I'll get to the bottom of that,” Canales 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.”
Both players may face some form of suspension. The NFL has been cracking down on bad behavior this season.
Jennings had a solid game against the Panthers, totaling five catches for 41 yards and a touchdown on seven targets.
Those numbers are OK considering the way Brock Purdy played. He had a forgettable three-interception game. Purdy said he needs to do better, according to ESPN.
“Honestly, the decisions of going to those spots, I was fine with,” he said. “It’s just the execution of throwing a better ball. I feel like on really all of them, I needed to just drive the ball a little bit more. I kept it up in the air too long on multiple of them.”
