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Fisher plays down brawl
• By Jim Thomas
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_305f5d12-0458-5b3e-8614-4f648fc876a5.html
On the subject of that second-quarter fracas with the New York Giants, coach Jeff Fisher surprisingly said Monday that he didn’t think any Rams involved would face fines or discipline from the NFL.
He said he didn’t discuss the brawl with the team Monday but did speak with defensive end William Hayes, who was ejected for throwing a punch on the New York sideline.
“But the league will handle that,” Fisher said. “The league will handle the appropriate discipline as far as that’s concerned. I would be very surprised if we had anybody that was fined for that.”
Uh, come again? You would be surprised?
“If we had someone fined or disciplined,” Fisher said in affirmation.
Even Hayes?
“Yes, I would be surprised,” Fisher replied.
About the only possible exception in Fisher’s mind, in terms of a fine, would be linebacker Alec Ogletree, who jump-started the rumble by driving wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. well out of bounds after a short reception late in the second quarter.
“Now I can see what the officials are seeing with respect to Alec and the late hit out of bounds. But when you look at it really close, Odell has (Ogletree’s) facemask and he’s pulling him out of bounds. So it’s hard for (Ogletree) to let up.”
Actually, if you do indeed look at the replay closely, Beckham’s hand is up in the area of Ogletree’s facemask, but he’s not tugging on it. At least not until he was already driven about five yards out of bounds.
But Fisher wasn’t finished.
“There were some other things that happened in there that were very disappointing, but I’m confident that the league will handle it,” he continued.
He was speaking specifically of Giants place-kicker Josh Brown, a former Ram who was released by Fisher on the final day of the 2012 draft. Brown foolishly was late in jumping on the pile after a first-quarter kickoff return by Benny Cunningham.
Brown got shoved off the pile by a Ram, and then struck Rams safety Cody Davis with a strong kick. It’s debatable if the kick was intentional or accidental. But it’s not surprising which side of the debate Fisher came down on.
“People get ejected for kicking people in a game, and (Brown) was penalized,” Fisher said. “But there’s some sentiment, I thought, he should’ve been ejected from the game. ... Typically when that happens, they go. That could’ve been the difference in the game, going on and finishing the game without a kicker.”
The NFL has a very low tolerance level for any level of scuffling in games and will look at the tape of Sunday’s over and over to identify offenders and then dish out fines or further discipline. As it was, Hayes and two Giants — wide receiver Preston Parker and defensive end Damontre’ Moore — were ejected.
Parker also threw a punch. Also, Ogletree was penalized for unnecessary roughness.
After the game, several Giants were critical of the Rams’ style of play, particularly as it applied to Beckham.
“It was very dirty,” defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul said.
“They were going over and beyond when it came to Odell,” Giants safety Antrel Rolle said, according to the New York Post. “I don’t know if their plan was to bait him or hurt him or whatever it was. But we’re going to protect him.”
The strongest words came from Giants linebacker Jameel McClain.
“That dirty (stuff) don’t make them tough,” McClain said, according to NJ.com. “That is a dirty (bleep) organization. They suck as an organization.”
Fisher, who was aware of some of the comments by the Giants, offered this retort Monday: “I think it would be good if they looked (at) themselves in the mirror. They played really good, and they played hard, and they played physical.
“They beat us physically in a number of instances. But I don’t think we had a lot to do with those things on the sideline other than an attempt to break things up.”
And when asked if he thought Beckham got into his players’ head or got under their skin with some of his trash talking, cockiness, and taunting, Fisher said, “No, we just played hard.”
Played hard? Or played stupid?
This isn’t the first time the Rams let their emotions get the best of them. On Oct. 20, 2013 in Carolina, the game in which quarterback Sam Bradford suffered a season-ending knee injury, the Rams and Panthers combined for $55,125 in confirmed fines.
Defensive end Chris Long was ejected for throwing a bunch during a melee that lasted a couple of minutes out on the field. He was subsequently fined $15,750. That precedent would seem to indicate that Hayes is in line for a fine because of his actions against the Giants, Fisher’s opinion notwithstanding.
Not that Hayes didn’t have a reason to get frustrated.
“Yeah, he was head-locked, drug out of there, helmet ripped off, and then punched,” Fisher said.
Hayes said the punch didn’t actually strike him.
And in the 2013 season finale at Seattle, the Rams were penalized an astounding 21 times in a chippy game by both sides. (Only 12 penalties were actually assessed; nine were either declined or part of offsetting penalties.)
Defensive tackle Kendall Langford was ejected in that Seahawks game after inadvertently knocking the hat off of back judge Steve Freeman. (Physical contact by a player with a game official results in an automatic ejection.)
“I’m not concerned about that,” Fisher said after that contest, a 27-9 loss. “We’ll fix that. I can fix that in a team meeting.”
Looks like it’s still not fixed. This year, the Rams lead in the NFL in yards penalized (1,094).
• By Jim Thomas
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_305f5d12-0458-5b3e-8614-4f648fc876a5.html
On the subject of that second-quarter fracas with the New York Giants, coach Jeff Fisher surprisingly said Monday that he didn’t think any Rams involved would face fines or discipline from the NFL.
He said he didn’t discuss the brawl with the team Monday but did speak with defensive end William Hayes, who was ejected for throwing a punch on the New York sideline.
“But the league will handle that,” Fisher said. “The league will handle the appropriate discipline as far as that’s concerned. I would be very surprised if we had anybody that was fined for that.”
Uh, come again? You would be surprised?
“If we had someone fined or disciplined,” Fisher said in affirmation.
Even Hayes?
“Yes, I would be surprised,” Fisher replied.
About the only possible exception in Fisher’s mind, in terms of a fine, would be linebacker Alec Ogletree, who jump-started the rumble by driving wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. well out of bounds after a short reception late in the second quarter.
“Now I can see what the officials are seeing with respect to Alec and the late hit out of bounds. But when you look at it really close, Odell has (Ogletree’s) facemask and he’s pulling him out of bounds. So it’s hard for (Ogletree) to let up.”
Actually, if you do indeed look at the replay closely, Beckham’s hand is up in the area of Ogletree’s facemask, but he’s not tugging on it. At least not until he was already driven about five yards out of bounds.
But Fisher wasn’t finished.
“There were some other things that happened in there that were very disappointing, but I’m confident that the league will handle it,” he continued.
He was speaking specifically of Giants place-kicker Josh Brown, a former Ram who was released by Fisher on the final day of the 2012 draft. Brown foolishly was late in jumping on the pile after a first-quarter kickoff return by Benny Cunningham.
Brown got shoved off the pile by a Ram, and then struck Rams safety Cody Davis with a strong kick. It’s debatable if the kick was intentional or accidental. But it’s not surprising which side of the debate Fisher came down on.
“People get ejected for kicking people in a game, and (Brown) was penalized,” Fisher said. “But there’s some sentiment, I thought, he should’ve been ejected from the game. ... Typically when that happens, they go. That could’ve been the difference in the game, going on and finishing the game without a kicker.”
The NFL has a very low tolerance level for any level of scuffling in games and will look at the tape of Sunday’s over and over to identify offenders and then dish out fines or further discipline. As it was, Hayes and two Giants — wide receiver Preston Parker and defensive end Damontre’ Moore — were ejected.
Parker also threw a punch. Also, Ogletree was penalized for unnecessary roughness.
After the game, several Giants were critical of the Rams’ style of play, particularly as it applied to Beckham.
“It was very dirty,” defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul said.
“They were going over and beyond when it came to Odell,” Giants safety Antrel Rolle said, according to the New York Post. “I don’t know if their plan was to bait him or hurt him or whatever it was. But we’re going to protect him.”
The strongest words came from Giants linebacker Jameel McClain.
“That dirty (stuff) don’t make them tough,” McClain said, according to NJ.com. “That is a dirty (bleep) organization. They suck as an organization.”
Fisher, who was aware of some of the comments by the Giants, offered this retort Monday: “I think it would be good if they looked (at) themselves in the mirror. They played really good, and they played hard, and they played physical.
“They beat us physically in a number of instances. But I don’t think we had a lot to do with those things on the sideline other than an attempt to break things up.”
And when asked if he thought Beckham got into his players’ head or got under their skin with some of his trash talking, cockiness, and taunting, Fisher said, “No, we just played hard.”
Played hard? Or played stupid?
This isn’t the first time the Rams let their emotions get the best of them. On Oct. 20, 2013 in Carolina, the game in which quarterback Sam Bradford suffered a season-ending knee injury, the Rams and Panthers combined for $55,125 in confirmed fines.
Defensive end Chris Long was ejected for throwing a bunch during a melee that lasted a couple of minutes out on the field. He was subsequently fined $15,750. That precedent would seem to indicate that Hayes is in line for a fine because of his actions against the Giants, Fisher’s opinion notwithstanding.
Not that Hayes didn’t have a reason to get frustrated.
“Yeah, he was head-locked, drug out of there, helmet ripped off, and then punched,” Fisher said.
Hayes said the punch didn’t actually strike him.
And in the 2013 season finale at Seattle, the Rams were penalized an astounding 21 times in a chippy game by both sides. (Only 12 penalties were actually assessed; nine were either declined or part of offsetting penalties.)
Defensive tackle Kendall Langford was ejected in that Seahawks game after inadvertently knocking the hat off of back judge Steve Freeman. (Physical contact by a player with a game official results in an automatic ejection.)
“I’m not concerned about that,” Fisher said after that contest, a 27-9 loss. “We’ll fix that. I can fix that in a team meeting.”
Looks like it’s still not fixed. This year, the Rams lead in the NFL in yards penalized (1,094).
