Jets' Marshall calls lateral 'probably the worst play in NFL history'

EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ - SEPTEMBER 27: Brandon Marshall #15 of the New York Jets celebrates hid touchdown in the second quarter against the Philadelphia Eagles at MetLife Stadium on September 27, 2015 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)

New York Jets wide receiver Brandon Marshall had a great game in the box score Sunday, but his play on the field was a different story -- and he knows it.

"I played like crap today, to be honest with you," Marshall said via Dom Cosentino of NJ.com.

Marshall caught 10 passes for 109 yards and a touchdown, but his numbers were overshadowed by an inexplicable blunder in the second quarter.

After catching a 16-yard pass for a first down, Marshall attempted to lateral the ball to a trailing teammate while he was falling to the ground. The play didn't go the way Marshall had hoped, as the Philadelphia Eagles recovered the fumble and turned it into seven points on the ensuing drive.

After the game, Marshall clearly wasn't happy with his decision to pitch the ball backward.

"Wrong time to gamble," Marshall told reporters. "I was pressing, trying to make a play. But can't do that. That was probably the worst play in NFL history."

It may not have been the worst play in NFL history, but it did remind Jets fans of Mark Sanchez's infamous Butt Fumble. His head coach, Todd Bowles, said Marshall knows it was the wrong time for that kind of play.

"We can't have those type of plays during the game; you just can't do it," Bowles told reporters. "He understood. It was a play too late, but he understood."

Marshall has been in the league for 10 years, so he knows that there's a time and place for a play like that -- on the final play of the game in a last-ditch attempt to make a comeback. He and his head coach made that known after the game, but his performance on the stat sheet is not to be overlooked.

Marshall has been great in his first year with the Jets as he's asserted himself as the team's No. 1 target. He has 23 catches for 272 yards and three TDs through three games.