Randall Cobb will be entering the regular season a bit lighter in the wallet. The Jets wide receiver was fined $13,889 for unnecessary roughness on an illegal blindside block on safety Bobby McCain during the team's preseason finale against the Giants, according to ESPN. The block sent McCain into concussion protocol and helped spark a jawing match between Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers and Giants outside linebacker Jihad Ward.
The infraction occurred during the Jets' first offensive possession of the game. Rodgers completed a pass to tight end Tyler Conklin that went for 14 yards, largely thanks to Cobb barreling in with the illegal block on McCain. The officials saw it, threw out the yellow flag, and called the Jets for the 15-yard penalty.
You can see Cobb's hit in the video below.
My god, Bobby McCain just got BLASTED -- he was clearly shaken up #NYG pic.twitter.com/zzPC6G87VB
— Alex Wilson (@AlexWilsonESM) August 26, 2023
That hit triggered some pushing and shoving back and forth between Rodgers and Ward. Ward said that seeing Jets players laughing in the huddle following that hit is what sent him and the rest of the Giants sideline over the edge.
"Everybody going to get pissed off at that. The whole team was pissed off, you know what I'm saying?" Ward said. "It's preseason and all that stuff and you're going to do some reaction like that? It's cool, though. That's how they roll. I think we play them soon, it is what it is."
HBO's Hard Knocks highlighted the hit in question and, judging by the video, it did appear that Jets players were laughing, but not necessarily because McCain got hurt. Instead, it was centered around the 33-year-old Cobb making the hit.
I love this team.
— Brendan (@jetfella) August 29, 2023
“What are you doing bro, this ain’t 2014” 😂 #Jets #TakeFlight #HardKnocks pic.twitter.com/ahCTohsLaA
The Jets face the Giants in Week 8 at MetLife Stadium, so it will be interesting to see if there will still be some lingering bad blood between these two hometown rivals by the time that game kicks off.