Adam Jones supports Tyler Boyd after game-ending fumble call

Bengals rookie wide receiver Tyler Boyd had an interesting day playing against the team for whom he used to root in only his second NFL game.

Boyd, who grew up about 30 minutes away from Pittsburgh in Clariton, PA, hauled in 6 of 8 targets on Sunday for 78 yards in his first game against a division rival. Those numbers could have been enhanced if not for what the officials ruled to be a fumble on a six yard pass from Andy Dalton with two minutes remaining in the game. A variety of camera angles showed Boyd clearly looking down, before losing the ball, but somehow, the call of a fumble by Boyd stood after review.

Bengals veteran cornerback and first year captain Adam Jones was not pleased with the call, and made sure to express his thoughts on the play and on his new teammate after the game.

“First of all, I thought it was a [expletive] call,” Jones said via Yahoo! Sports. “That’s what I thought it was. Tyler Boyd is the real deal. This kid got a lot more football to play. We love TB here. Like I told him, ‘No reason to hold your damn head down.’ Boyd gonna be special. See how we do in the next game when we play these [expletives].”

Clearly Jones was not happy after the Bengals loss to the Steelers, which came after a sloppy day from the offense, but a strong showing from the Bengals’ defense, led by Captain Jones. Jones snagged one of two interceptions on the day from the Bengals’ defense, though, he technically should have dropped the ball. It came on fourth down and gave the Bengals offense worse field position when they took over on the field than they would have had if Ben Roethlisberger’s pass went incomplete.

But, one game, and a loss to a rival in their stadium isn’t cause for overreaction. Jones knows that the Bengals will rebound and be better for having gone through this. “At the end of the day this is going to be a special l group. I promise you that,” Jones told Bengals.com’s Geoff Hobson. “We’ll take this on the chin and keep working. We’ll get better from it.”

Two positive takeaways from today’s loss can be that everyone kept their cool throughout the game and the rivalry may be getting back on the right track in terms of physically won, hard-fought games that are won by the rules. Though, hopefully going forward, the refs will allow for the rules to be followed more thoroughly.

“My wife called me,” Jones said. “She sent me some scripture saying do what I can do and let the Lord handle the rest of it. I’m content. Whatever y’all want to write, y’all write. I know the guys we got. All we gotta do is keep working hard. We see those [expletives] again. Can’t wait till we play ’em again.”

The Bengals play the Steelers again on Sunday, December 18th in Week 15 on Sunday Night Football. Vontaze Burfict will be back for the game, as will Le’Veon Bell, both of whom sat out with suspensions on Sunday.