Dublin's Brian Howard said he didn't see the half-time brawl in the tunnel that marred his side's encounter with Tyrone in Healy Park on Saturday evening.
After flirting heavily with defeat against Monaghan in Round 3, the All-Ireland champions suffered the first league loss of the Dessie Farrell era in Tyrone, succumbing by three points in dismal conditions.
However, most of the post-match headlines were hogged by the scenes in the tunnel at half-time, which were captured by the TV cameras at the game, with even more dramatic footage circulating on social media.
But the two-time All-Star winner Howard said he was cooped up in the away dressing room by the time the fisticuffs broke out.
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"I actually was first off the pitch so I was in the dressing room at this time," Howard told RTÉ 2fm's Game On .
"I heard a bit of commotion but I was genuinely in the dressing room."
Not alone did he not see the incident, the Raheny clubman insists that there wasn't even any discussion of the brawl among the Dublin players - either at half-time or after the match.
"When they came in at half-time, we had another half to go out and try to win the game. So, we weren't talking about it.
"And then after the game, there was no chat about it, it was just what we did wrong and what we had to put right in two weeks.
"That's not up to me to comment on because I wasn't there. So I can't talk about any of it.
"There are a lot of serious punches being thrown"
— RTÉ GAA (@RTEgaa) February 29, 2020
A melee appeared to break out at half-time during Tyrone vs Dublin
Colm O'Rourke and Tomas Ó Sé have been discussing those fractious scenes #RTEGAA #TYRvDUB pic.twitter.com/CNfOKdjjj3
"Whatever went on is not a good image to portray for Gaelic sports. But there hasn't been stuff like that for a long time.
"I know people are asking should there be investigations and what's a better way to protect the players. But credit to the sport in general, there hasn't been stuff like that for a long time.
"It was such a close game on the pitch and physically demanding that tempers were high. I don't know what actually went on in the tunnel so I can't say anymore about that."
There was some post-match chatter about whether the match should have proceeded at all, given the treacherous nature of the conditions.
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Howard acknowledges the work of the groundsmen in getting the pitch ready for the game but says it was still an awkward affair, having to navigate ones way through it.
"They tried to do their best to take most of the water off the pitch and in fairness they did a decent job.
"It was severe conditions. It was difficult to play in but you had to adapt.
"Both your game plan and how you solo the ball, bounce the ball, kick the ball. Dean (Rock) had a shot in the first half which on any other day would have been over the black spot but it went out for a sideline."
