ESSENDON'S Mark Baguley says a comment he made to Carlton's Jed Lamb was in response to an "offensive" sledge Lamb had made about his appearance.

Baguley said in a statement: "I was responding to Jed who had made an offensive remark about my physical appearance, something he has done in previous games." 

AFL.com.au understands Baguley's response to Lamb sparked the melee at three-quarter time of Saturday's clash between the teams.

It was reported that Baguley's response to the Blue tagger referenced Lamb's murdered father.

Lamb's father was murdered in a brutal axe attack in 1999.

Baguley said he had no knowledge of Lamb's father's death, and denied the death was the subject of his retort.  

"I'm extremely disappointed with the reporting of this story as it is not a true reflection of the events that took place on the field," Baguley said.

Lamb is not expected to pursue any further action against Baguley.

Lamb was drafted into the AFL in 2010, initially as a first-round pick to Sydney.

He is believed to have accepted Baguley's apology after the game, despite having told the Essendon lock-down defender not to discuss his father during the contest.

The AFL has confirmed it has not received a complaint about the incident, although a spokesperson could not say if it would investigate the matter independently.

WATCH: Lamb fires up after Baguley sledge

The 25-year-old on Tuesday accepted a $1000 sanction for misconduct against Baguley in the third term of the contest.

Carlton coach Brendon Bolton also appeared to verbally challenge Baguley during the scuffle before the final term. 

Lamb joined the Blues at the end of the 2015 season, having spent three years at the Swans before being traded to crosstown rivals Greater Western Sydney.

He was a physical presence in Saturday's drought-breaking win over Essendon, targeting Bombers veteran Brendon Goddard early in the game.