Leonard Fournette accepted responsibility for his role in a fight that resulted in his ejection from Sunday's 24-21 loss against the Buffalo Bills.
The Jacksonville Jaguars running back wasn't on the field when wide receiver Donte Moncrief caught a 29-yard pass to put the Jaguars at the Bills' 1-yard line in a 14-14 tied ballgame. A skirmish between players on both sides erupted, and that's when Fournette said he left the sidelines to protect teammates.
"Your brothers are getting attacked, they're fighting out there, you're going to have to go there and also protect your own, but at the same time, professional now, I mean, you can't have that," Fournette said. "I apologize to all those kids out there who look up to me and all of our fans. The biggest thing is this whole loss, totally on me. I take full responsibility."
Fournette also issued an apology Sunday on Instagram.
Meanwhile, Fournette kept the Jaguars in the game with 95 yards rushing and two touchdowns on 18 carries before the on-field fight, which also resulted in the ejection of Bills defensive end Shaq Lawson.
"He came over to the sideline," Jaguars head coach Doug Marrone said of Fournette. "Obviously, I talked to him. He's a captain. He can't do that. Obviously, that's something that hurts our team when ee lose probably our best offensive player who was playing obviously at a very high level."
The Bills capitalized with a touchdown on the ensuing drive and added a field goal to push the lead to 24-14 before holding on to win.
Sunday's loss dropped the Jaguars to 3-8 on the season, resulting in the Monday morning firing of offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett.