Andre Cisco was public enemy No. 1 among Chiefs fans the last time Jaguars were in KC
As soon as Chiefs wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster hit the ground during the November game against Jacksonville, it was clear he had been seriously injured.
Smith-Schuster tried to catch a pass, but before he could secure the ball he was flattened by Jaguars safety Andre Cisco on what appeared to be a helmet-to-helmet hit.
A penalty was called, but as Smith-Schuster was being attended to on the field, officials huddled and decided to pick up the flag.
“After discussion on the field, the two officials came in and determined that the defender had set and braced for impact and hit shoulder-to-shoulder,” referee Brad Rogers told a pool reporter afterward. “They didn’t feel it was use of a helmet foul.”
“Those hits are … it’s up to the referees,” Cisco told reporters after the game, which the Chiefs won 27-17. “I’m obviously leading with my shoulder. That’s how I hit usually. I’ve seen the replay and it looked like it was close but no call.”
The NFL thought Cisco should have been flagged because it fined him $6,612, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported.
Chiefs coach Andy Reid confirmed Smith-Schuster had a concussion as a result of the play and thought a penalty should have been called.
“It looked like there was contact to the head from where I was standing, but I’m not the one making that call,” Reid told reporters.
Quarterback Patrick Mahomes added: “He’s just trying to knock the ball loose and do stuff like that, but obviously there was some helmet-to-helmet contact, and we want to get that out of the league as much as possible for player safety.”
Chiefs fans were furious with Cisco, who also delivered a huge hit to KC receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling.
Here is a small sample of what they were saying about Cisco in November.
This story was originally published January 18, 2023 at 9:01 AM.
