Jets safety Minkah Fitzpatrick said he received a fine from the NFL for a hit that concussed Browns wide receiver KC Concepcion on Sunday.
Fitzpatrick wouldn’t reveal the fine amount but said he will appeal.
“It was a football play, in my opinion,” Fitzpatrick said Thursday, via Antwan Staley of the New York Daily News. “Obviously, we don’t like to see anybody get hurt. I’m happy to see that he’s back out practicing this week. But in my opinion, it was a football play, a bang-bang play as their coach put it.”
Fitzpatrick ripped off Concepcion’s helmet, which also likely drew a fine from the league, in the first quarter before an unnecessary roughness penalty four plays later that knocked out Concepcion.
Concepcion returned to practice Wednesday but remains in concussion protocol after another limited practice Thursday.
“When you look at the league rules, they say you can’t hit a defenseless player,” Fitzpatrick said. “I really don’t know what that means.
“I understand why I got the penalty. It wasn’t for targeting or hitting him in the head. It was for hitting a defenseless player. In my opinion, when a receiver has the ball, you have every right to hit him as long as you are not hitting him in the head.”
Browns fans were not fans of Fitzpatrick before Sunday. They remember his tackle on then-Cleveland running back Nick Chubb in 2023 that tore ligaments and the meniscus in Chubb’s left leg.
“I’m over that issue,” Fitzpatrick said of the Chubb play.
