The most recent primetime matchup between the Buffalo Bills and the Los Angeles Ramson Monday Night Football at SoFi Stadium provided NFL fans with plenty of fireworks on the field during Buffalo’s 37-34 overtime victory.
And, afterward, those sparks continued to fly when Rams’ veteran offensive lineman Alaric Jackson and Bills’ veteran outside linebacker Bradley Chubb got into an altercation following the final whistle when players were, supposedly, meeting one another cordially near midfield.
For Chubb and Jackson, however, punches were exchanged instead of pleasantries, as Los Angeles’ starting left tackle seemingly sucker punched Buffalo’s 30-year-old EDGE defender before walking off the turf.
Bills’ pass-rusher doesn’t deflect any questions pertaining to Rams’ punch
As a result, Jackson was subsequently suspended for two games, which Bills ON SI promptly reported about on Wednesday.
The suspension, though, has since been reduced to one game following Jackson’s appeal to the league, which is a bit of a shocker given the nature of the unnecessary incident that was totally uncalled for . . . at least in Chubb’s mind.
“At one moment, you thought you (were) about to lose the game, and I feel like that’s when, kind of, the front running started, like, the talking junk and all that. And, the emotions get high, and it’s, like, ‘Oh, boom. OK, now we won.’ And, I’m not going to say I don’t have any fault in the situation, you know? I went up to him (first),” Bills’ outside linebacker Bradley Chubb said during media availability following the team’s practice at UC Irvine on Wednesday.
“I’ll tell you exactly what I said: I’ve heard I’ve been talking about (your) Mom, and different things. That’s not true at all, (so) I went up to him and I said, ‘Hey, we’re going to see y’all a** again. And, when we see y’all again, that chip ain’t going to save you—that tight end, that guard—is not going to save you.’ That’s what I said.
“And, then he said, ‘What’d you say?’ He walked up on me . . . people said I put my hand in his face, (but) I said, ‘That chip’s not going to save you, (and) that guard’s not going to save you.’ BOOM. You know what I mean? And, that’s the situation . . . it’s an emotional game. All tempers (are) flaring.”
Chubb trying to stay clear of any further distractions
With the air cleared, it appears that both sides have now moved on from the incident, especially when it pertains to Buffalo’s defender.
The team from Western New York has yet another critical game upcoming in just a few days—this time in the AFC against the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday at Allegiant Stadium in Paradise, Nevada—and it’s imperative that all hands are on deck for the next matchup for first-year head coach Joe Brady’s squad.
And, keeping that in mind, Chubb, who finished the game against the Rams with only two total tackles, no sacks, and no quarterback hits, knows that he can’t focus on trivial things like what happened with Jackson.
If Buffalo is truly going to accomplish its goal of going back to SoFi Stadium in February 2027 for Super Bowl LXI on Valentine’s Day, then players can’t waste their time with any extracurriculars not pertaining to bettering their craft on the field.
And, given that Chubb and his defensive teammates have plenty of areas to clean up moving forward this season, he’s seemingly already wiped the incident from his focus.
But, who knows? Maybe the two players will see each other once more in the season's final game at SoFi Stadium.
“They brought me here to play and to be a leader. And, I feel like if I would have reacted—if I would have did anything in both of those situations—like, I’m not doing what they brought me here to do,” Chubb continued.
“Like I told him, ‘We’re going to see y’all again.’ And, how do we see them again? In the Super Bowl. And, that’s one of our goals as a team is to get to that (point).”
Whether or not both squads will actually meet again later on in the NFL’s title game this winter remains to be seen, but it sure would provide an extra story line, wouldn’t it?
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