PHILADELPHIA — Dak Prescott has told his side of the Jalen Carter spitting incident.
Carter, the Eagles’ star defensive tackle, was ejected after spitting on Prescott at the start of Thursday night’s season opener between Philadelphia and Dallas.
While Eagles trainers were tending to an injury after the opening kickoff, Carter and Prescott exchanged words before Carter spat on the Dallas quarterback. The All-Pro defensive tackle was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct and tossed by head referee Shawn Smith.
Carter’s behavior was slammed on social media and elsewhere. But after a third-quarter lightning delay, the NBC broadcast shared new footage of what happened before the incident.
NBC cameras caught Prescott spitting in the direction of Carter, who was standing oddly close to the Cowboys’ pre-drive huddle. That footage took off and added a new layer to “Spitgate.”
After the Eagles’ 24-20 win over the Cowboys, Prescott was asked about the incident and explained his side of the story. These are his comments in full:
“I probably spit a thousand times throughout the game. I mean especially game day, maybe even in general and something I guess I’m not proud of. But in that case, (Carter) was trolling, I guess you could say, trying to mess with (Cowboys right guard) Tyler Booker. I was just looking at him. I was right here by the two linemen and I guess I needed to spit, and I wasn’t going to spit on my lineman and I just spit ahead.
“I would say he was back there and was in that sense and he goes, ‘Are you trying to spit on me?’ At that point, I mean I felt like he was insulting me. I wouldn’t spit on somebody. ‘I’m damn sure I’m not trying to spit on you.’ We’re about to play a game. I’m wondering why you’re trying to mess with the rookie, and so when I stepped through, I actually say the words like, ‘Why the hell would I -’ excuse me, but I’m probably even more colorful. ‘What would I need to spin on you for?’
“He just spit on me in that moment, it was more of a surprise than anything. Refs obviously saw it through the flag. I was like, ‘Hell yeah, we get 15 yards to start the game off.’ Didn’t realize he was getting ejected. Unfortunate that he did.
“He is a hell of a player. It changed our plan and our blocking scheme, as I’ve told you before the week that we’re going to protect against him. So it helped in that manner. I don’t wish for anybody to get out of the game. I’m sure he probably regrets that to some extent. I’m pretty sure he knows that I didn’t try to spit on him or wasn’t even aiming to spit on him.
“So something that’s probably going to get a lot of coverage and a lot of attention that I feel sorry for him in the sense of, yeah, I mean I know how excited each and every one of us are right to kick off the season and the season opener, and hell of a player like that doesn’t even get a chance in the first play. Unfortunate circumstances.”
We’ll see what comes of it for Carter, who did apologize for his actions after the game. Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said the team will keep Carter’s discipline “in-house.”
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