More and more players are beginning to skip bowl games before heading to the NFL Draft, and ESPN’s commentators took time to sound off on Oregon RB Royce Freeman during the Las Vegas Bowl.

Oregon’s offense came out flat against Boise State in the first half and did not manage any points until the fourth quarter. The Ducks were only down 24-14 at halftime, thanks to two defensive TDs, but they were never able to find consistency on the afternoon and fell to Boise State by a score of 38-28.

It is fair to speculate if having Freeman on the field would have made a difference. The senior RB, who sat out of the bowl game to remain healthy for the NFL Draft, had 1,475 yards rushing and 16 TDs this season and was a big part of Oregon’s offense.

Mack Brown discussed Freeman’s decision to sit out the bowl game at halftime, and he indicated that he would not have allowed him to travel to the game. As far as Brown is concerned, Freeman wouldn’t be a part of the team anymore if he sat out the bowl.

Kevin Wade shared a screenshot of Brown’s full comments:

Multiple people took issue at Brown’s comments and other comments from Kirk Herbstreit throughout the game, but others did agree that having Freeman address the team without playing was an odd choice:

How do you feel about players sitting out bowl games?