Jamal Adams tugged on Superman’s cape.
The Jets rookie safety gave Panthers quarterback Cam Newton a slight push to the chest as Newton was doing his “Superman” celebration in the Jets end zone after his second-quarter touchdown.
“I just don’t like people celebrating in our end zone,” Adams said of the brief altercation.
Newton said he had “no idea” what happened.
Adams took offense to Newton stopping, staring, then acting like he was opening up his shirt like Clark Kent revealing an “S” on his chest after his 1-yard touchdown run. The protest showed Adams’ passion, as did his reaction to the 35-27 loss to Carolina.
Adams was in tears at the end of the game on the bench after the crushing loss. In the locker room, coach Todd Bowles stopped by his locker to console him. Adams took the loss hard.
“It’s tough,” an emotional Adams said. “No one likes to lose. We come out here to win. We come out here to compete. I don’t like losing. No one likes losing. We’re frustrated man. It’s tough to come out here, play hard and blow another lead. It’s tough. So that’s the answer to your question. It’s heartbreaking.”
Even as the losses mount, Adams believes the Jets will keep fighting.
“We have no choice,” Adams said. “Either you finish or you continue to keep losing. You pick. One day, it’s going to have to click for the team to snap out of it and finish ball games.”
Nose tackle Mike Pennel committed a brutal penalty late in Sunday’s loss. The Panthers had a third-and-11 from the Jets’ 48 with 2:17 left in the game. If the Jets had gotten a stop, they would have had the ball back with two minutes to play. Newton threw an incomplete pass intended for Devin Funchess on the play, but Pennel was penalized for roughing the passer. Pennel jumped into Newton late and pushed him.
“It’s horrible, but you just have to play the game,” Pennel said.“I didn’t think it was a penalty, but obviously the refs get paid to do a job. I get paid to do a job. That was the call.”
Bowles was not happy with several of the penalties the Jets had, including Pennel’s.
“All of our penalties are inexcusable,” Bowles said. “The one that he had … we can’t have that. That was just bad football. That wasn’t smart football at all.”
Nose tackle Steve McLendon (stinger) and cornerback Juston Burris (concussion) left the game. … Jermaine Kearse and Robby Anderson both had more than 100 yards receiving. It is the first time since Sept. 15, 2016, the Jets have had two 100-yard receivers. Brandon Marshall and Eric Decker did it against the Bills that day. … The Panthers were 3-of-14 on third down. They entered the game with an NFL-best 46.9 percent conversion rate.