John Fassel responds to Titans-Jaguars ejection, threats and what NFL got wrong

Tennessee Titans special teams coordinator John Fassel told reporters the NFL admitted to two refereeing mistakes on special teams in the Titans' Nov. 30 game against the Jacksonville Jaguars that both directly and indirectly cost the Titans points.

The Titans lost 25-3 against the Jaguars in a game where action on special teams ended up being one of the stories of the game. Rookie Titans return specialist Chimere Dike lost a fumble on a kickoff, a roughing the punter penalty turned a Jaguars three-and-out into a 15-play touchdown drive and a couple of hard blocks and harsh words turned into a full-on fight resulting in four personal fouls and one ejection.

Speaking to reporters two days later, Fassel said he thought referee Brad Allen and his crew did a good job of handling the strange moments in the game, and understood why certain rulings were made. He wasn't thrilled about the ruling to eject safety Mike Brown following the dust-up; Fassel says replays showed Brown grabbed a Jacksonville player by the facemask and let go, causing the player's head to drop to the ground but potentially being misinterpreted as a shove that could've triggered the ejection.

And in the wake of Titans running back Julius Chestnut's assertion that Jacksonville punter Logan Cooke threatened to kill him on the field, Fassel issued a blanket condemnation, saying players across the league would be best served to cut back on more personal or threatening language used in games.

Amid all of those highlights, two consequential plays flew under the radar. Fassel and the Titans can submit up to 10 special teams plays to the NFL office per week for review and clarification on rulings. This week, Fassel said the league admitted mistakes were made in two cases:

1. Titans outside linebacker Arden Key was flagged for encroachment on a Jaguars extra point, giving Jacksonville the opportunity to try a 2-point conversion from the 1-yard line. Further review showed Jacksonville's long snapper flexed his elbows and turned the tip of the ball downward before the snap, which constituted enough movement to be an illegal snap penalty that should've moved Jacksonville back. Had the penalty been called correctly, the Jaguars likely would've scored one fewer point, or perhaps two if the extra point was missed.

2. Early in the fourth quarter, Cooke tackled Dike on a punt return by flicking his leg up and striking Dike in the chest. No flag was thrown, but the league office admits Cooke should've been called for a tripping penalty. Had those 15 yards been assessed, the Titans would've taken over the ball at Jacksonville's 23-yard line just outside of field goal range rather than the 38-yard line.

The Titans already trailed by 22 points at the time of the missed tripping incident. Take away the extra point from Key's encroachment and it's still a three touchdown game. Give those 15 yards of field position and maybe the Titans start a comeback, but the full turnaround would've been unlikely.

Nevertheless, Fassel's motivation for hearing these rulings isn't to make excuses about why the Titans lost.

"When I usually turn them in, I’m not turning them in for trying to be right," Fassel said. "I’m usually turning them in to try to educate myself and our players on the thought process behind a call. The tripping was a little bit more to say ‘That was tripping, right?’ And they were like ‘Yeah, that was tripping.’ On the encroachment, it was more about what’s the limit as far as how much movement the ball can do before it’s considered legal or illegal. A lot of it has to do with the NFL just letting us know from this perspective."

Nick Suss is the Titans beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Nick at [email protected]. Follow Nick on X @nicksuss. Subscribe to the Talkin’ Titans newsletter for updates sent directly to your inbox.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: What Titans say about Jags fight, threats and what NFL admits it got wrong