It took Falcons defensive tackle Grady Jarrett a while to compose himself after the 20-17 home loss to the Dolphins on Sunday.
Jarrett had a key roughing the passer penalty in the third quarter that negated a spectacular interception by linebacker Deion Jones, who was spying Miami quarterback Jay Cutler.
The Falcons were up 17-7 at the time and would have had the ball back. Instead, the play infused Miami’s rally and led to another touchdown.
“I was just going full speed ahead,” Jarrett said. “I was cutting it close. It’s unfortunate that it happened. I hurt my team.”
Jarrett finished with four tackles.
The Falcons streak of 19 games with a sack was stopped.
“I have to find a way to pull off,” Jarrett said. “But in the moment, it looked fair to me. I never intend to do (anything) dirty. That’s just how it went down. It was unfortunate.”
Jarrett believes the Falcons, who were 13-point favorites, can survive the shocking upset.
“We just have to go back to work,” Jarrett said. “Do what we do. At the end of the day. We have to put this one behind us. We just have to keep getting better.”
