The Eagles accused the Saints of dirty play during Philadelphia’s 15-12 win on Sunday. Saints coach Dennis Allen defended his players Monday.
“I’d say our guys play extremely hard and we’re going to compete until the down is over,” Allen said, via Katherine Terrell of ESPN. “I don’t think we play dirty. I don’t think we ever have played dirty. It’s not the way we coach it, not the way we teach it, but we do play hard. Look, nobody wants to see anybody get hurt, nobody’s trying to hurt anybody and unfortunately that’s part of the business that we’re in. No, we don’t play dirty. We don’t coach dirty, but we do play hard and we do play physical.”
Eagles receiver DeVonta Smith caught a 5-yard pass early in the fourth quarter when Paulson Adebo and Pete Werner wrapped him up and Khristian Boyd came in from the other side and hit Smith high. Smith’s helmet flew off, and he did not return after being placed in concussion protocol.
Officials did not penalize Boyd, though he does face a possible fine this week.
Eagles safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson, who the Saints traded to the Eagles in 2022, called it “the dirtiest shit” he’s ever seen in football.
Turner was accused of spitting on Smith as he lay on the ground in a viral social media post, something Turner vehemently denied in a reply.
Saints right tackle Trevor Penning was flagged for unnecessary roughness for blocking Eagles cornerback Darius Slay into the sideline bench.
“We can’t have that,” Allen said. “You’ve got to have some awareness of where you’re at on the field. That could’ve been a really costly penalty. I love the aggressiveness, but at the same time, we can’t hurt the team.”