Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver DeVonta Smith took a hit from Khristian Boyd that led to him suffering the concussion. In that play, Smith was being pushed back by New Orleans Saints defenders before the hit. There didn’t seem to be ill intent involved.
After the game, Smith’s teammates C.J. Gardner-Johnson and Jordan Mailata called the play dirty. Mailata kept it at that, but Gardner-Johnson went further and connected the play to the culture of the team.
Dennis Allen responded to a question about the play, but his answer leans towards a response to Gardner-Johnson’s culture point. Allen was straightforward on Monday, saying, “I don’t think we play dirty. I don’t think we ever have played dirty. It’s not the way we coach it, not the way we teach it.”
Allen instead said his team plays hard, and honestly, that’s what the play looked like. Boyd appeared to just be playing through the whistle. You wish he would have let up in hindsight, but this doesn’t look dirty.
Allen made sure to dispel the notion that the Saints are a dirty team by reiterating “dirty” is an inaccurate description of how they play or coach.
