The afterglow of Andre Brown’s first start -- a 113-yard, two-touchdown performance in the Giants’ 36-7 win over the Carolina Panthers on Monday -- is already dimming a bit.
The NFL announced that Brown and three of his teammates -- safety Kenny Phillips, center David Baas and left guard Kevin Boothe -- were all fined for actions in the Week 2 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Brown was penalized $15,750 for a horse collar tackle following one of quarterback Eli Manning’s three first-half interceptions last Sunday while Phillips was slapped with a $30,000 fine for a third-quarter hit on Bucs wide receiver Vincent Jackson that didn’t actually draw a flag.
On Tuesday Phillips said he didn’t believe he deserved a fine because the hit was with his shoulder, not his helmet, and he couldn’t have launched himself because he was dragging his foot as he collided with Jackson.
Phillips was fined at least twice last season, although he claims he was fined more than that, but can’t specifically remember. Regardless, he previously said he would appeal any fine for that play.
“Whatever it is, I'll appeal it,” Phillips said on Tuesday. “Wrong or right, I'm going to appeal it.”
Baas and Boothe were each fined $7,875 for their actions after the final whistle. Fans will remember that the Buccaneers defensive line dove across the line of the scrimmage as Manning was kneeling for the victory. That led to a heated handshake between coaches Tom Coughlin and Greg Schiano as well as a debate over whether or not the Buccaneers were diving to injure someone or whether they felt they had a reasonable shot at knocking the ball lose from Manning’s hands.
The league has not penalized the Buccaneers in any way for that specific incident because it did not violate any rule.
Buccaneers linebacker Mason Foster was fined $21,000 for ripping the helmet off of Giants wide receiver Domenik Hixon. Hixon left the game with a concussion and did not play on Thursday night against the Panthers.
The fines were announced after the Giants’ media availability on Friday, so players won’t likely be able to respond until Monday.
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