Buffalo Bills guard Richie Incognito has been accused of using racial slurs during the Wild Card game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. While Incognito was one of a few Bills not present at locker clean out on Monday, his teammates spoke up for him while Jaguars defensive end Yannick Ngakoue spoke with reporters in Jacksonville.
“[Incognito] said what he said yesterday, and like I said before, we had a great team win yesterday and I said what I needed to say yesterday,” Ngakoue said in the Jaguars locker room on Monday, via First Coast News. “There 22 players on the field yesterday, I’m pretty sure I’m not the only person who heard it.”
But none of his Jaguars teammates said they heard it, according to First Coast News. And none of the Bills linemen who flank Incognito heard it either, though Ngakoue says he is “sure” other Bills overheard. Left tackle Dion Dawkins and center Eric Wood both came to Incognito’s defense Monday.
“I didn’t hear anything,” said Wood next to his locker on Monday. “It was chippy out there but I didn’t hear anything. I know Dion tweeted something that he didn’t hear it. Richie’s done a lot in the last few years to restore his image and I hope it’s not all thrown away off speculation or whatever. Honestly, I didn’t hear it so I can’t speak either way on it.”
“I was next to Richie the entire game and Richie did not say one thing and if he did, best believe I’d have been one of the first people to check him on it,” said Dawkins in the locker room. “There’s racism and a lot of stuff going on in this country and there are boundaries. If he did overstep, I would have said something.”
Incognito was suspended for eight games in 2014 and sat out the remainder of the season after accusations surfaced in 2013 of bullying teammates including using the n-word. He signed with the Bills in 2015.
Ngakoue said he doesn’t recall Incognito using the n-word yesterday but declined to be more specific on the allegations.
According to Adam Schefter of ESPN, the league is set to formally investigate the incident.