Cleveland Browns defensive tackle Shelby Harris had strong words for San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Jauan Jennings following Sunday’s matchup. Harris was clearly upset about something Jennings allegedly said during an injury stoppage on the field.
“I see why he got punched in the nuts, because he said some things that you should not say to another man—ever,” Harris said, referencing the 49ers’ previous game, when Carolina Panthers safety Tre’Von Moehrig struck Jennings below the belt. Jennings later retaliated after the game.
The NFL suspended Moehrig for one game without pay and fined Jennings $12,172.
Harris added, “I’m surprised nobody has punched him in the jaw yet.”
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This week on We’re the Harrises, a Guerrilla Sports podcast, the Browns defender expanded on the issue and appeared to accuse the 49ers receiver of crossing a serious line.
“I think the biggest thing that happened is that multiple people in that instance had a couple of issues with the things that he was saying,” Harris explained, per Dan Dempster of NBC Sports Bay Area. “For me, I don’t care about trash talk; you can say whatever the hell you want to. But usually, when we’re inside those white lines, people’s families, people’s wives, people’s children, are off limits.”
Harris noted that some players push boundaries, knowing any retaliation by the opposition could result in fines or suspensions—similar to what happened with Moehrig.
“The way I look at that stuff is, you can only say that type of stuff on the football field because, if I retaliate, I lose money,” Harris explained. “If I do anything about that, my team gets punished. But if you do that on the street, I’ll smack the s—t out of you.”
According to Harris, even the boldest trash talkers typically avoid mentioning another player’s family, suggesting Jennings violated that unwritten rule.
“But the minute you bring up a man’s family, bring up a man’s wife, bring up a man’s kids, any type of sexually explicit thing when it comes to a man’s wife and family, we’re going to have a problem,” Harris said.
49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch defended Jennings this week. Shanahan said he had not yet heard the exact comments that caused such a reaction from Browns players. However, he acknowledged that he spoke with Jennings, and nothing from that conversation led him to believe the receiver crossed a line.
“Until I do, I don’t have much of an opinion on it,” Shanahan said. “That’s just trash talk between a couple of people out on the field, and I kind of leave it at that.”
Meanwhile, Lynch compared Jennings’ intense competitive edge to that of Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green.
“I mean, Draymond just plays so hard that he’s an irritant,” Lynch said. “That’s very similar. Jauan plays really hard, to the whistle, and they, frankly, aren’t used to receivers doing that to them. And then, he’s exceptionally strong, and so he tosses these guys around a little. And it’s a great thing that he’s on our side.
“I don’t believe that he crosses the line with things he says out there. I think he just kind of gets under people’s skin because he plays a certain way. And I can tell you this: they all wish he were on their team, so we love having him on ours.”