Travon Walker ‘surprised’ by penalty for his post-whistle punches that cost Jaguars their last chance vs. Vikings

The Jacksonville Jaguars came up with a late third-down stop on Sunday, seemingly giving their offense one last chance to rally past the Minnesota Vikings.

But the Jaguars never touched the ball again.

After the stop, defensive end Travon Walker continued to attack after the whistle. And by attack, we mean throwing punches in a pile of players.

Here’s another angle with Walker clearly swinging after the play was done.

It was an obvious penalty, and Walker got flagged for it. Officials assessed Walker a 15-yard personal foul for unnecessary roughness. Instead of facing fourth down and a certain punt in the game’s final minute, the Vikings were awarded a new set of downs thanks to the penalty. They were able to kneel out the clock from there on their 12-7 win.

Without a penalty, the Jaguars would have faced a long shot. They were out of timeouts, and the Vikings could have run all but the last few seconds off the clock before punting the ball away. They would have needed a touchdown to win after scoring just one all day with backup Mac Jones playing quarterback for an injured Trevor Lawrence.

But having a long shot is better than having no shot, which is where the Jaguars stood after Walker’s penalty.

After the game, Walker was asked about the penalty. Somehow he was surprised that he got flagged for throwing punches, which aren’t legal before or after the whistle blows.

“The ref basically, literally, said I was too aggressive after the whistle was blown,” Walker said postgame, per ESPN. “So that definitely surprised me — [the] referee telling me that I’m too aggressive in the game of football. … “I own up to that, but in the midst of it, I hope everybody on my team knows what I was doing, and that’s what matters.”

Walker was apparently making the case that he was attempting to punch the ball free from running back Aaron Jones. The reality was random flailing of fists long after the play was done.

Walker’s in the midst of a breakout season three years into his career after being selected first overall in the 2022 NFL draft. This wasn’t Walker’s finest moment. He entered Sunday with 6.5 sacks and eight tackles for loss in nine games and added another sack to his tally against the Vikings. This wasn’t his finest moment.

But in the end, Walker’s antics may help the Jaguars in the long run. At 2-7, they entered Sunday with nothing to play for for the rest of the season. The loss dropped them to 2-8 and in a tie with the New York Giants for the worst record in football in the race for the No. 1 pick in next year’s draft.