That was a costly swipe for Bruce Arians.
The NFL fined the Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach $50,000 for striking the head of his own safety, Andrew Adams, on Sunday during the NFC wild card matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles.
The incident occurred in the fourth quarter after the Eagles punted the ball back to the Buccaneers. Arians claimed he was trying to prevent Adams from pulling players off a pile, which is a penalty.
“I’ve seen enough dumb,” Arians told reporters Monday. “You can’t pull guys out of a pile. We just got a big play, great field position, and he’s trying to pull a guy out of a pile, and I was trying to knock him off of that guy so he didn’t get a penalty.”
Arians said Tuesday he will appeal the fine.
“It ain’t got nothing to do with the game,” Arians said, via The Athletic, “so we’re good.”
The Buccaneers defeated the Eagles 31-15 and will host the Los Angeles Rams in the Divisional Round on Sunday.
Follow Chris Bumbaca on Twitter @BOOMbaca.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NFL fines Bucs coach Bruce Arians for hitting player Andrew Adams