New England Patriots quarterback Mac Jones will not be fined after he held onto and twisted Carolina Panthers edge-rusher Brian Burns' right ankle as the defender chased after a loose ball following his strip sack last Sunday.

Per ESPN's Adam Schefter, Jones could have been called for holding, but the NFL did not believe the action worthy of a fine.

The incident occurred in the first quarter of the Patriots' 24-6 road win over Carolina last Sunday. It also aggravated a previous ankle injury Burns was dealing with, and he ended up missing the remainder of the game.

He is listed as questionable for the Panthers' road game against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday.

Burns told reporters on Wednesday he didn't expect Jones to apologize for his actions, as relayed by Grace Remington of Fox 46 Charlotte.

Teammate Haason Reddick called the play "completely dirty," per Darin Gantt of the Panthers' website.

Jones said he thought Burns had the ball, which is why he tried to take him down. He spoke on WEEI's Merloni & Fauria about the play, with Michael Hurley of CBS Boston providing the transcript.

"After I got hit pretty hard, I didn’t really know exactly what was going on. I thought he had the ball and it was my job to try and make the tackle. That was pretty much it.

"And you know, obviously when you get up and you see the ball is actually down the field a little bit more...it was just a bang-bang play and I didn’t mean to hurt anybody or anything like that. I was just trying to tackle him and make the play. Because you know, I didn’t really know what was going on."

In the end, the NFL believed what Jones did wasn't fine-worthy.

Now the 5-4 Patriots move on to host the Cleveland Browns on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET. The 4-5 Panthers will visit the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday at 4:05 p.m.