When a quarterback and a defender have a head-to-head collision, the defender is usually blamed. But not this time.
Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson was fined $22,511 by the NFL for a helmet-to-helmet hit with Lions defensive back Brian Branch in Sunday’s game.
Officially, the NFL referred to Richardson’s infraction as “Unnecessary Roughness (use of the helmet).”
Richardson did lower his helmet, although Branch did too, as players typically do when they’re bracing for impact as they run toward each other. The NFL isn’t always consistent on these rules, and it wouldn’t have been surprising if Branch had been fined instead of Richardson.
Quarterbacks rarely get fined in the NFL, and Richardson was the only quarterback fined by the league this week.
