Troy Aikman Says His Comments After Chris Jones' Roughing Penalty Were 'Dumb'

NFL broadcaster and former quarterback Troy Aikman was criticized for a misogynistic comment he made about a roughing the passer penalty, and he walked his remarks back Thursday.

"My comments were dumb, just shouldn't have made them," Aikman said during an interview with 96.7 The Fan (h/t Jenna Lemoncelli of the New York Post). "Just dumb remarks on my part."

The penalty in question was committed by Kansas City Chiefs pass-rusher Chris Jones during Monday's game against the Las Vegas Raiders. Aikman said during ESPN's broadcast that he believes the NFL should "take the dresses off" regarding such flags.

Roughing the passer flags were already under the spotlight even before Monday's game thanks to a penalty against Atlanta Falcons defensive tackle Grady Jarrett.

Jarrett sacked Tom Brady and was penalized even though he didn't land on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback with his full body weight. It was a critical call, as the Buccaneers ran the clock out after the flag kept their late drive alive.

Jones' penalty on Raiders quarterback Derek Carr at least involved him landing on the signal-caller with more of his body weight.

"The quarterback is in the pocket, and he's in a passing posture. He gets full protection of all the aspects of what we give the quarterback in a passing posture," official Carl Cheffers told a pool reporter after the game. "My ruling was the defender landed on him with full body weight. The quarterback is protected from being tackled with full body weight."

Despite criticisms about the whistles, a league source told ESPN's Adam Schefter "there is no backing down on enforcing rules that are in place to protect the health and safety of players, including quarterbacks, who by rule are considered defenseless players when they are in a passing posture."

As for Aikman, he played 12 seasons for the Dallas Cowboys from 1989 to 2000. His Hall of Fame career came during a time when there wasn't as much emphasis on player safety when it came to concussions and even keeping quarterbacks healthy as there is in today's game.

He has since become a prominent NFL broadcaster and moved to the Monday Night Football booth with Joe Buck ahead of the 2022 campaign.