The Jalen Carter spitting incident has taken up quite a bit of media attention in Week 1. Carter spat on Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott during an injury timeout after the opening kick of the season opener. Carter was promptly ejected. The Cowboys didn’t retaliate against Carter and maintained their cool, which gained them an extra 15 yards.
Richard Sherman and Darius Slay Jr. weren’t amused by the Cowboys’ O-Line’s decision not to protect their quarterback, letting them hear it.
Richard Sherman and Darius Slay Call Out the Cowboys O-Line
Sherman and Slay know the rules of the offensive line. No one touches the quarterback, and even though he wasn’t technically touched, Prescott was still being messed with. But the offensive line didn’t retaliate as they might do if someone gave a little extra on a hit to Prescott. Slay and Sherman went after the Cowboys’ offensive line for not backing up Prescott and called the linemen soft.
Slay and Sherman hoped that the offensive line wasn’t looking at the incident. But they were. A few of them were looking straight at it, though.
“They are soft. You don’t let this happen,” said Sherman.
The Cowboys didn’t come to the aid of their guy, but didn’t risk a flag on retaliating. Prescott wasn’t put in danger of getting hurt. Even then, Slay is shocked at how the offensive line didn’t move a muscle defending their guy.
“I don’t know how they let that happen. Hell, boy. Yeah, I promise that ain’t gonna happen with [Aaron Rodgers] over here or [Jalen Hurts]. They ain’t having that.” said Slay.
Slay made sure to compliment his offensive line on the Pittsburgh Steelers. They wouldn’t let something like that slide if it happened to Aaron Rodgers. The Steelers and Jets had plenty of jawing back and forth as the contest got chippy at points. In one case, Jets OL John Simpson retaliated after a hit to Justin Fields.
Slay and Sherman have nearly 25 years of experience and are no strangers to offensive line retaliation. They know the importance of a quarterback feeling protected, which they felt they had to call out the Cowboys’ offensive line for not going after Carter.
The NFL announced that Carter wouldn’t be suspended further for spitting on Prescott, as he missed the entire Week 1 matchup after being ejected before a single snap. Therefore, this game served as a one-game suspension in the eyes of the NFL.
Carter will be back on the field for the Eagles in Week 2 against the Kansas City Chiefs for one of the potential games of the year. Meanwhile, the Cowboys’ offensive line will be on high alert for any players messing with their quarterback to put their foot down and put it to an end. Sherman and Slay will surely be pleased if they go out next week and don’t let any shenanigans happen to Prescott after not backing Prescott against Carter.
