Jordan Reed Ejected for Punching Kurt Coleman (Video)
Washington Redskins tight end Jordan Reed was playing through the pain, but it was a mental error that ended his Monday Night Football outing prematurely.
When healthy, there aren’t many tight ends in the NFL that can produce at the level of Jordan Reed with the Washington Redskins. The Florida Gators product is as reliable of a pass-catcher as they come while also providing tremendous playmaking ability. However, the issue with Reed has always been that he’s a bit injury-prone. On Monday Night Football in Week 15, he again was injured, but playing through it. Yet it wasn’t an injury that cost him the rest of his night late in the third quarter.
Instead, it was a rare—and untimely—lapse in judgment that ultimately got Jordan Reed sent packing in the matchup with the Carolina Panthers.
After a relatively quiet showing through almost three entire quarters, you could see the frustration mounting for the tight end. That frustration reached peak levels when he took a hit after his first catch and was in obvious pain. He played through it, though, and got locked up with Kurt Coleman. Coleman appeared to push Reed off to some degree, but the Redskins star escalated things further. Squaring up with the Panthers safety, Reed then threw a nasty punch right into the facemask of Coleman.
He then squared up with the rest of the Panthers players in the area, having snapped apparently:
Reed was obviously (and rightfully) ejected for his antics. But you have to wonder how much of this was just frustration from the injury and how much was actually this particular play that made him snap.
Next: NFL Power Rankings for Week 16
Perhaps this is giving him or anyone too much credit, but I can’t imagine many pro athletes trying to fight half of the opposing defense over a play like that. There’s definitely something else getting under Reed’s skin before that. Whatever the reason, though, the Redskins lost arguably their best weapon for the entire fourth quarter while trailing. So not only was it an unwise move to begin with, but it also came at the worst time.