New York Jets head coach Aaron Glenn has defended veteran safety Minkah Fitzpatrick, saying the hit he laid on Cleveland Browns receiver KC Concepcion did not make him a dirty player.
Fitzpatrick had two major penalties Sunday on the first drive by the Browns, and on the second such play, his hit on receiver Concepcion knocked the rookie out of the game.
After the game, Browns offensive tackle Dawand Jones was furious with Fitzpatrick. Many fans also were angry, with one recalling a similar vicious hit Fitzpatrick laid on former Cleveland Browns running back Nick Chubb that ended his career.
“At that point, to me, it’s just personal,” Jones said in the locker room after the game. “It’s just like, come on, dawg. It’s more than football at this point. Just being dirty at that point. I told him that s***’s not right. I call it how I see it, and some things ain’t football.
“I don’t know what it is with him and Cleveland, but um I don’t like it, and I told him to his face.”
Fitzpatrick wasn’t apologetic, and told Jones “that’s football,” according to Cleveland.com’s Dan Labbe.
Glenn agreed with the assessment that nothing was intentional. Glenn said Fitzpatrick initially tried to make a shoulder tackle and insisted the safety was not a dirty player.
“Listen, I think Minkah initially tried to go with the shoulder, and just like always, I mean, sometimes you say an offensive guy might put their head down. It’s not like he tried to do it or the offensive guy tried.
“It’s just some of those things that happen in a bang-bang situation, and they’re tough to call. They really are. I do know this: Minkah’s not a dirty player. He’s never been a dirty player.”
Glenn also pointed out that Concepcion was able to walk off the field under his own power.
“And, listen, Concepcion, man, I’m glad to see him get up and be able to walk off the field as he did. But, no, I don’t think Minkah is a dirty player at all.”
Fitzpatrick was also fined for unnecessary roughness in the Week 4 Chicago Bears game. He was dinged $17,911 for a hip-drop tackle. The maneuver traps the ball carrier’s lower limbs under the heavy weight of the defender while the foot is often planted, causing high-stress twisting and bending. It often results in catastrophic injuries.
Browns head coach Todd Monken was forgiving of Fitzpatrick’s hit, calling it a “bang-bang” play.
“Minkah’s been in this league a long time. He’s not a dirty player. I’ve never seen that out of him,” Monken said. “It’s a bang-bang play, and unfortunately it happened to our guy, and that’s part of the league.
“Not having K.C’s a part of it, but everybody’s missing players, it’s the NFL.”
As a second offender, Fitzpatrick potentially faces a fine of $23,882 for the hit on the defenseless Concepcion. He also may be fined for his facemask penalty earlier in the same drive. Those fines range from $11,941 to $17,911.
Players get three strikes in any fine category. Get three of a kind and you receive an automatic one-game suspension. The fines can be appealed, but the strikes carry over into future seasons.
Fitzpatrick and the Jets will head to New England this week for a divisional game against the New England Patriots. The Pats are 7.5 favorites on the early line.
