The New York Giants defender who forced Demario Douglas to leave the game early on Sunday will not face any consequences.
Demario Douglas was struck cleanly by Cam Brown’s clothesline, according to the NFL. The fourth-year New York Giants linebacker Brown was not disciplined as part of the gameday responsibility from that incident. The Patriots (2-9) were condemned to their fourth straight loss as New York prevailed 10-7.
Brown’s Clothesline Hit on Douglas
Despite Douglas’s need to leave the game early due to a head injury, there was no penalty called for the hit. Due to a concussion, the rookie receiver will not participate in Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles Chargers (1 p.m. ET, CBS).
If Brown had been called for unnecessary roughness, the Patriots would have taken the field at their own 39 to begin the next drive. In the end, Randy Bullock’s game-winning field goal for the Giants was made possible by a Bailey Zappe interception.
Douglas’ teammates won’t be happy with the decision on Saturday because several of them demanded that Brown be punished and fined. CB Jabrill Peppers had said after the incident ,
“They preach all this player safety stuff, but then that doesn’t get flagged,” “But I’ve been fined maybe two or three times for clean hits. So that (ticked) me off, too. (The officials) even looked up on the Jumbotron and saw it, and there was still no flag. But you can’t say anything about the refs in this league. So it is what it is. But to me, that’s a joke. You can’t say you care about player safety and not flag that play.”
Two Giant defenders will be writing checks to the league, though it’s probably no comfort to the Patriots: Xavier McKinney lost $13,659 for acting unsportsmanlike while celebrating Chad Ryland’s missed field goal that sealed New England’s fate, and Carter Coughlin was fined $5,764 for hitting Ty Montgomery during a kickoff return late in the second half.
