Deshaun Watson, the Cleveland Browns‘ quarterback, won’t be subject to league punishment for making contact with a referee during Monday night’s 26-22 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The incident in issue happened after Watson ran out of bounds for no gain in the third quarter and was assessed a 15-yard unnecessary roughness facemask penalty. After arguing the flag, Watson appeared to touch an official.
On Tuesday, the NFL declared that the contact did not merit retaliation in form of fine or discipline.
According to NFL insider Tom Pelissero , the league said in a statement
“Officials are called upon to maintain order on the field, and sometimes while performing those duties, there is inadvertent contact between players and officials,”
“In this instance, in their judgment, the contact did not rise to the level of a foul.”
Tom did say that Watson could be fined however for the 2 facemask penalties he incurred on Monday Night.
It could be said that the incident cast an overall picture of Watson’s performance in the game in which he threw a Pick-six in first quarter and then was strip-sacked for the game winning touchdown in the 4th Quarter. Browns who dropped to 1-1 on the season host Titans this Sunday.
