Weston Richburg didn’t pass the buck, but he didn’t exactly own his ejection, either.
The Giants center, the first player to get tossed under the NFL’s new double unsportsmanlike conduct rule, admitted, “I let my team down,” but also took a shot at umpire Undrey Walsh, saying, “The guy that threw [the flag] was after me.”
While backup Brett Jones performed well in place of Richburg, his fourth-quarter disqualification certainly didn’t help the Giants in their disappointing 29-27 loss to the Redskins at MetLife Stadium on Sunday. The new rule was implemented after Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. and Panthers cornerback Josh Norman, now with the Redskins, combined for five personal fouls in an ugly matchup last season.
“They were probably trying to cut down on things seeing what happened last year with that matchup,” the 25-year-old Richburg said. “But it’s on me. I can’t control how many flags they want to throw. I’ve got to be a leader and be in there for my team.”
Richburg said he apologized to his teammates after the defeat, and they didn’t seem too upset with him, as long as it doesn’t happen again.
“Weston knows we need him out there,” left guard Justin Pugh said. “He’s our center, one of the best centers in the NFL, we need him on the field. He’s gonna learn from it. He’s a young guy, that fine’s gonna come in and I know he won’t have that happen again.”
It was unclear what he was called for on the play in question, a 24-yard pass play to Beckham in which Richburg was down field and shoved Norman from behind. Richburg said there was no trash-talking with Norman involved, and said he wasn’t given a reason for the penalty.
“We didn’t have a very lengthy conversation about it,” Richburg said.
As for what he felt about it, Richburg said, “I can’t say anything about the call.”
His ejection hurt, but so did the penalty. The Giants would’ve had the ball at the Redskins 5-yard-line, trailing 26-24 with 14:03 remaining. Instead, the ball got moved back to the 20, and Eli Manning threw an interception two players later.
“I let my teammates down,” Richburg said. “I have to be a presence in there and be a leader and I let my team down.”
Without directly doing so, Richburg was at least implicating Walsh for making what he felt was an unnecessary call because of their dialogue during the game. It sounded like a contentious back and forth.
“I deal with him a lot because he is the umpire and spots the ball, so I am talking to him about calls and what not,” Richburg said. “But like I said, I just have to be that consistent presence for my team and today I made a mistake and let it pull me out of the game.”