The NFL announced two fines were handed to players on both sides of the Indianapolis Colts and Houston Texans matchup in Week 1. No fines were given for a couple heavy blows to quarterback Anthony Richardson , despite head coach Shane Steichen saying he would send some plays to the league for review.
Colts linebacker Zaire Franklin owes $22,511 to the league for a tackle on running back Joe Mixon in the third quarter and Texans running back British Brooks was fined $4,444 for a hit on Colts kick returner Anthony Gould in the first quarter. Both players who were fined were not penalized during the game.
Aside from these two plays, the Colts front office wanted some more accountability from league officials. Richardson was slammed to the turf early in the game by defensive lineman Mario Edwards, and later took a shot to the helmet from Houston's cornerback Kamari Lassiter. Neither plays were penalized or fined after further review.
Standing at 6-foot-4 and nearly 250 pounds, Richardson seems to get a different whistle than smaller quarterbacks. Defenders are forced to hit him harder than usual, but that doesn't mean helmet-to-helmet contact should be acceptable.
I know I'm a big QB. I know some of the calls might not go our way, which is cool. It’s football. You just gotta fight through stuff like that.Anthony Richardson, Colts QB
The Colts will surely continue to monitor how the league officiates calls like these against their franchise quarterback who they'd prefer to keep healthy. Keep an eye on how the NFL's gameday accountability office handles situations like these in the future.
