TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS head coach Bruce Arians has been fined $50,000 after slapping one of his own players on the helmet during last weekend’s playoff win over the Philadelphia Eagles, the NFL said on Wednesday.
A report on the NFL.com website said Arians had been fined for striking safety Andrew Adams early in the second half of the reigning Super Bowl champions’ 31-15 victory over the Eagles.
Arians later said he slapped Adams’ helmet because he was concerned he might concede a penalty for pulling players out of a scrum of bodies.
“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,” Arians explained on Monday when asked about the incident.
“I was trying to knock him off that guy so he didn’t get a penalty.”
Arians’ offered his explanation despite footage of the incident which showed Adams was not pulling players from the pile when he was struck.
Tampa Bay host the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday in the divisional round where a place in the NFC championship game will be at stake.
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