Dennis Allen had nothing to do with Bountygate, a sordid chapter of Saints history in which the NFL determined that New Orleans coaches incentivized players for attempting to injure opponents.
But this is not a good look coming from a Saints head coach — or any head coach, for that matter.
Allen, who joined the franchise as defensive coordinator in 2015 years after the dust on the Bountygate scandal had settled, was asked on Monday about a flagrant takedown by New Orleans defensive lineman Nathan Shepherd of Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert on Sunday.
Here’s what Allen had to say when asked about criticism that Shepherd intentionally tried to injure Herbert on the play.
“I think it’s not accurate,” Allen said. “Here’s a guy that’s trying to wrap the quarterback up. He’s on the ground. He has no idea whether the quarterback has the ball or not. He’s just trying to bring the quarterback down to the ground.
“There was nothing malicious about that play. It’s a guy that’s trying to make a play. I went back and looked back at that play again after seeing the comments, and I don’t agree with that.”
In case you missed it, here’s the play in question from Sunday’s 26-8 Chargers win.
Herbert threw a screen pass to running back J.K. Dobbins during the second quarter. As Herbert released the ball, Shepherd dove low and wrapped up Herbert’s right ankle. He maintained his hold on Herbert’s lower leg long after Herbert released the ball, then twisted his knee and dragged him to the ground.
After Herbert was already on the ground, Shepherd rolled over and continued to twist Herbert’s knee with his own body weight. At this point, Chargers center Bradley Bozeman dove on Shepherd to get him off Herbert.
Herbert — who finished the game — was fortunate to have avoided a season-ending injury on the play.
The initial low dive below Herbert’s knee was reckless if not malicious. Allen downplayed the action from there as Herbert remained upright as ignorance on Shepherd’s part that Herbert had released the ball — never mind the dangerous torquing of Herbert’s knee regardless of his status as a ball carrier.
Allen apparently missed the part where Shepherd continued to twist Herbert’s knee after he brought him to the ground.
Officials didn’t miss it. They issued Shepherd an unnecessary roughness penalty for the play. But they didn’t eject from the game. And they negated the penalty by issuing an offsetting unnecessary roughness penalty on Bozeman for protecting his quarterback.
Then, on Monday, Allen defended the play.
There are times in the NFL for a head coach to stand unwavering by his players. There are also times that call for public accountability.