Lions pass rusher Bruce Irvin got off pretty easy for the hit that knocked Saints quarterback Derek Carr out of Sunday’s game.
Irvin told Justin Rogers of the Detroit News that he was only fined $7,000 for the hit on Carr, which drew a roughing the passer penalty. Rogers says Irvin was smiling as he said it, suggesting that he was expecting a stiffer penalty.
It easily could have been stiffer, given the NFL’s emphasis on protecting quarterbacks and given that Carr suffered a concussion on the play. But the league’s disciplinary procedure apparently didn’t see it as an overly blatant hit from Irvin, the veteran who was playing his first game as a Lion.
Carr is listed as questionable this week, while the Lions are expecting to give Irvin more playing time on Sunday in his second game with the team.