Falcons head coach Arthur Smith was fined $25,000, and the Falcons franchise was fined $75,000, for violating the league’s injury reporting rules. Smith said today that he learned from the experience.
Smith didn’t explain why he failed to disclose that Falcons running back Bijan Robinson was dealing with an illness that limited him in the Week Seven game against the Buccaneers, but he did say he has been in communication with the NFL about the matter.
“What I will give the league a lot of credit for is there are a lot of things, when you’re going through the injury report, and clearly we understood their point of view, but they also understood our point of view, too, which is why it wasn’t some contentious battle,” Smith said, as transcribed by the Falcons’ website. “As you go through that, just full transparency, there’s an inquiry and usually you have to respond with a letter - so, it’s not like it’s some court case that you’re sitting in - it wasn’t a lot of time spent, just: Here’s how we interpreted it, here’s our intent, nothing was done to try to game anything like that. I understood their point of view, so lesson learned there. It was a good conversation, and there are probably a lot of conversations that are going to be had in the spring. That’s kind of where we ended it. Again, lesson learned, and we completely understand their position. I think they understood where we were coming from. So, that’s what ended up happening.”
That’s a lot of words to say that Smith and the Falcons were in the wrong. Robinson was sick, and the Falcons failed to disclose that on their injury report, as teams are required to do. The fine isn’t a lot of money to any NFL head coach, and certainly not to Smith, the heir to the FedEx fortune. But it’s a statement from the league that Smith broke the rules and got caught.
