Drake says helmet toss was wrong,
Running back says he intervened to help Landry in melee.
DAVIE — A day after he was ejected for throwing a helmet during the season finale against Buffalo, Dolphins running back Kenyan Drake admitted he made a mistake.
Drake spoke about the incident at Miami’s pack-up day at Dolphins camp Monday. While Drake said repeatedly it’s always going to be important for him to stick up for teammates, he admitted his tossing a Bills helmet was a mistake.
“I felt like that was an out-of-character moment for me,” Drake said. “It was a heated situation. Especially when something had happened in the last game when we had playoff implications. It was stupid on my part just because at the end of the day, we still had a chance to win that game. We had just scored a touchdown. There was still plenty of time in the fourth quarter. But you know hindsight is 20-20.”
Wide receiver Jarvis Landry was also ejected. And Drake explained he was mostly intervening on Landry’s behalf.
“Jarvis got pushed out the end zone,” Drake said. “They grabbed his neck and were pulling him, things of that sort. So he went after 21. I was right behind him. I’m going to rally for my teammates in any situation. That’s the type of person that I am. The type of player that I am. But I let the situation get the best of me.
“Looking back on it, who knows where the helmet could have landed. So from that standpoint, I felt I needed to take a step back and look at myself and look at the situation. I put a lot of people at risk.”
Drake seemed surprised two Dolphins were ejected but no Bills.
“It was a little pileup,” Drake said. “I felt like they kind of grabbed on Jarvis and pulled him. The refs didn’t really officiate that I felt in a manner to where they didn’t really have the repercussions for the Bills players because they were pushing at the end of the whistle, things of that sort. In the heat of the moment, I’m always for my teammates. But I can’t let that get in the way for the detriment of my team.”
So whose helmet did he chuck?
“I can’t even tell you,” Drake said. “Whoever it was, we had a little wrestling match at the bottom of the pile. Whoever’s helmet it was. I kind of just grabbed it, heat of the moment. I was like, well, I mean if I’m going to go out, I guess this is how I’m going to go out.”
The ejections did not sit well with center Mike Pouncey.
“I don’t really know what happened, man,” Pouncey said. “I was just (upset) that it even took place. We still had seven minutes left in the game, and there is just no place for that, honestly. I mean, just a common-sense thing. Like, what are you doing? It’s a football game. We don’t need that out there. We just don’t.”
Pouncey said he understands the role emotions play in the game, but it’s still unacceptable.
“I think both of those guys know,” Pouncey said of Landry and Drake. “I just think that you get caught up in the moment. Emotions get caught up into it. We have to be smarter in those situations. We have to know we can’t get guys kicked out of the game at that point.
“Hopefully, both those guys will learn from it.”