Chiefs players outraged by missed JuJu Smith-Schuster penalty (Video)

Chiefs players such as Justin Reid, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, and Isiah Pacheco expressed confusion, concern and outrage over JuJu Smith-Schuster’s injury.

When Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster went down on the field and demonstrated a fencing response, it concerned everyone watching the game.

Chiefs fans, including Patrick Mahomes’ wife Brittany Mahomes, took to Twitter to express their disbelief. Not only did Jaguars safety Andre Cisco knock down Smith-Schuster, but there was no penalty on the play, despite Smith-Schuster’s concerning neurological response.

During a season that saw Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa at the center of a concussion controversy, seeing referees fail to penalize Cisco — even though Smith-Schuster had to be helped to the locker room — deeply upset the Chiefs locker room.

Some of Smith-Schuster’s teammates, such as Justin Reid, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, and Isiah Pacheco spoke with FOX4KC’s PJ Green about how they perceived the injury.

Chiefs: Justin Reid, MVS, Isiah Pacheco “mad” about JuJu Smith-Schuster injury

Justin Reid spoke at length about why the lacking penalty and the play itself concerned him as a fellow safety.

"“I didn’t agree with that call. They threw the flag, then they ended up picking it up. That’s a player safety thing. [We’re] really, really looking out for our guy, praying for his health. [We’re] concerned that it’s nothing serious, spine-wise or anything like that. But that play was unnecessary.”"

Reid, who is a safety like Cisco, was asked if because of his position, he felt that such a hit was avoidable.

"“Yeah. That’s just keeping your eyes open. Keep your head up, your eyes open, you make a tackle. I’ve had a ton of big hits in my career. Not once have I ever had a helmet-to-helmet contact with it. Go through the career of my five years. Handful of big hits, not once have I had contact like that. It’s a little bit both ways, receivers making sure they’re not ducking their heads too. But as a defender, making sure you see what you hit.We were pissed. That’s the only way to describe it. We were mad.”"

Marquez Valdes-Scantling illustrated how a flag on Smith-Schuster’s play would help to protect players who are “putting our lives on the line every single play.” Two plays later, Valdes-Scantling suffered a similar hit.

"“Those kinds of hits are not welcome in this game because we’re all playing and putting our lives on the line every single play, and you never want to see a guy go down like that. And then for me to come in and get the same kind of hit two plays later and there’s no flag, no penalty — are they protecting us? Because as a wideout, there’s not many things we can do when the ball’s in the air to protect ourselves, and to have two guys go down with the same type of injury within three plays, it’s not fair to the guys who put their lives on the line.I’m surprised they didn’t throw [a flag] on JuJu, and I’m surprised there was no flag on mine as well. Because that’s what the emphasis is, is protection of players, so we gotta do that. We can’t have two hits like that, helmet-to-helmet. Obviously, the game of football is a very violent sport, and we understand that. There’s gonna be hits that are legal that we understand. But we can’t have the head injuries because we see what happens to players who have those head injuries down the road and how it affects them.”"

Isiah Pacheco opened up about how Smith-Schuster’s injury emotionally affected him, his eyes welling with tears for the first time in years.

"“Honestly, that right there brought tears to my eyes. For me, fumble, then, JuJu get hit…I haven’t cried since college. Right there, I felt every emotion of it. Right there, I just brought that dawg out right there. I was ready to play hard. I know JuJu is good now. I told him when I got back in here, ‘Hey bruh, you brought tears in my eyes. I put in that work for you.’ For him telling me that he recovered, and to get that respect off him, it’s a brotherhood.”"

Smith-Schuster is reportedly recovering well and is currently in the NFL’s Concussion Protocol.