New York Giants head coach Joe Judge refused to discuss the fight between wide receiver Golden Tate and Los Angeles Rams cornerback Jalen Ramsey following the game on Sunday night, but has now gathered more information.
While speaking to reporters on Monday, Judge said players had informed him that Ramsey threw the first punch and that Tate was merely defending himself.
“I talked to a number of our players and the guys that were involved and I had enough of a kind of eyewitness standpoint for myself after me and Sean (McVay) had an exchange at a midfield,” Judge said.
“I turned around — it was kind of happening right there in front of me, so I got a quick glimpse of that. There was a punch thrown, Golden was defending himself. I was told he wasn’t one that threw the punch, and everybody involved was trying to break it up.”
FOX cameras had cut away for a commercial and returned only to catch the tail-end of the skirmish, and with no fans in the stands to record the incident all Judge has is the word of his players.
Still, Judge regrets that it’s a situation Giants co-owners John Mara and Steve Tisch will have to hear about.
“I don’t want John Mara, Steve Tisch or anybody involved this team to have to deal with something like this after the game,” Judge said. “This isn’t a why we play the game. We have 60 minutes, you know, to beat the hell out of each other, legally between the whistles. We don’t need anything extra after.”
After gathering more information — and pending anything additional — Judge says the team will not discipline Tate.
“There’s a number of things we still have to look through as a team, but based on the information I was given and what I saw with my own eyes and what our players gave me, it didn’t sound like there’s an immediate need for (discipline),” Judge said. “But we’ll look into it.”
Even if the Giants don’t discipline Tate, the NFL may. The league has begun an investigation into the matter, which was spurred on by family circumstances away from the game of football.
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