Commanders’ Javon Kinlaw accuses Amon-Ra St. Brown of punching Daron Payne first, let’s look at the video
Payne was ejected for punching St. Brown in Sunday’s game.
The Detroit Lions handled their business against the Washington Commanders on Sunday with a 44-22 win. There was a little controversy during the game when Commanders Pro Bowl defensive lineman Daron Payne got ejected for punching Lions receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown in the face after a touchdown.
So what started all of this? According to St. Brown, the two had a scuffle two plays earlier, and after the Lions scored, he went and talked a little trash to Payne, and then Payne hit him. On the broadcast, you can see there’s a bit of a scuffle after Commanders safety Quan Martin drove St. Brown to the ground and then stayed on top of him. Then, you see a group of guys around each other with officials, but you don’t see anything else.
That’s why when Commanders defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw accused St. Brown of hitting Payne first, it was a bit of a shock because you just didn’t see that on TV.
“I just felt like, I just felt like in the moment we were being cheated, to be honest,” Kinlaw said. “[DT] Daron [Payne] only retaliated because the refs literally saw the first punch, you know what I’m saying. I don’t blame him for the way he reacted, you know, and tempers got to flying. I mean, it is what it is. It’s a physical game. Shit happens. But on my end, I just got to be smarter in certain situations and protect the team.
On whether he saw Detroit Lions WR St. Brown hit Payne:
Yeah, for sure, and they did too. That shit was some (expletive) 100%.”
So, did it happen? Let’s take a look at the video:
Broadcast
OK, the camera cuts away from the action, but you can see there’s a little scuffle that St. Brown talked about in which three officials are right there in the mix.
It’s just really hard to believe that St. Brown threw a punch at Payne in front of them, threw a punch in this little window, and the three officials didn’t see it or call it, or that he threw a punch at a dude as large as Payne.
All-22
The All-22 doesn’t help us because the clip just cuts off right after the play is blown dead. It does that after the touchdown, too, so you don’t see Payne’s punch in All-22. NFL Pro is awesome, but it did take away the ability to watch an entire game in All-22 with no cuts.
There’s only one more way to find out
Since we can’t see it on video, there’s really only one more way to find out. That’s next Saturday, when the NFL releases fines for Week 10. If St. Brown pops up there for fighting or something, then maybe it really happened. If he doesn’t, Payne made it up, and it was fiction all along.