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ALLEN PARK -- Jared Goff had some fun when asked about the back-and-forth with the Washington Commanders during a Tuesday radio appearance. For those who missed it, Commanders defensive lineman Daron Payne was ejected for striking Amon-Ra St. Brown after Jahmyr Gibbs scored to put the Lions up 20-3 in the second quarter. The Lions went for two thanks to the penalty after the touchdown, then found themselves up 19 points in the first half. Payne was also suspended for one game without pay for his role in the incident. That suspension has already been upheld through an appeal, too. The Lions were trotting off the field, with the extra-point crew coming onto the field, when Payne went up to and struck St. Brown with a hook. There was trash-talking between St. Brown and Payne, not to mention Commanders defensive lineman Javon Kinlaw, during the drive leading up to the incident. Kinlaw got in Goff’s face and talked smack after jumping offside earlier in the series, and the Lions quarterback threw in a dig at ESPN analyst Louis Riddick when discussing the ordeal from the team’s 44-22 win on Sunday. “He (Kinlaw) jumped offside, I told him he jumped offside, he said, ‘I know,’” Goff told 97.1 The Ticket. “I don’t know why he was so excited about jumping offside, but he was. And that was before they punched Saint in the face, so I can’t wait to see Louis Riddick break that one down for us this week on Turning Point.” Riddick, of course, got called out by a ton of Lions players and fans for a negative Turning Point video after Lions safety Brian Branch was suspended for striking Kansas City Chiefs wideout JuJu Smith-Schuster. NFL Films eventually deleted the video, which was very critical of Branch, but they still drew the ire of the Lions’ locker room for it seeing the light of day. The NFL and Riddick each provided statements in the aftermath of deleting the Branch video, with the league calling it “overly critical.” Back to this past weekend, though, because after the game, Kinlaw was insistent that Payne only retaliated because St. Brown struck him first a few plays before the defensive lineman was ejected. “I don’t blame him (Payne) for the way he reacted,” Kinlaw said on Sunday. “Tempers got to flying, it is what it is, it’s a physical game. (Expletive) happens. On my end, I’ve just got to be smarter in certain situations and protect the team. “Yeah, for sure, and they (officials) did too (see St. Brown hit Payne). That (expletive) was some (expletive), 100%.” St. Brown said he and Payne got into a little scuffle two plays before the touchdown and subsequent ejection. The All-Pro Lions wide receiver went up to Payne and said “a little something (to him) -- nothing crazy, and then he decides to swing on me.” And the back-and-forth finger-pointing continued on Tuesday, when Payne shared video of what led to him striking St. Brown, and to try and prove Kinlaw right in the aftermath. The video shows Payne push St. Brown after a play, and then the receiver swipes the defensive lineman away, before connecting harder with Payne’s facemask on a swing. As Kinlaw said after the game, there are three officials nearby, and even a Commanders player signaling for a flag after St. Brown draws contact. Awful Announcing reports that the Fox broadcast of the Lions-Commanders game never showed the initial incident between St. Brown and Payne getting into it before the ejection. Payne shared the video on Instagram on Tuesday, then NBC Sports Washington picked it up, and it gained traction. Goff made his comments about Riddick on 97.1 The Ticket before the video of the initial incident between St. Brown and Payne made the rounds. The NFL announces fines from the previous week’s games on Saturday afternoon, and there is a chance they’ll have more to say regarding this incident.
