An elbow to the head from Rams cornerback Lamarcus Joyner knocked Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater out of Sunday’s game. Per the NFL, the hit will be reviewed on Monday, as part of the league’s standard procedure for reviewing plays for potential discipline.
Although it looked like a dirty play, Joyner insisted after the game that he did not mean to hurt Bridgewater.
“I know that guy,” Joyner told reporters after the game. “I grew up across the railroad tracks from him. My mom knows his mom. My dad knows him mom. I would never intentionally do a dirty play like that on Teddy Bridgewater. It was a bam-bam play. . . . I did not know he was gonna slide. When I launched, he slid, and we connected. If I could take it back, personally, I will take it back. Because I’m not a dirty player. And I wouldn’t want to take joy from his mom or from his team. So was it [done] intentionally? Not at all. So I can’t fix the problem with what’s going on, how they feel. But how I feel inside, it’s not good.”
He’ll feel even worse if/when he receives a letter from the league informing him of a five-figure fine arising from the hit. Whether Joyner meant it or not, it was an illegal hit -- and it’s the kind of illegal hit that typically draws a flag.
