When NFL referee Pete Morelli visited the Vikings early this month, he said that the hit by Vikings linebacker Anthony Barr that injured Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers last season would be a penalty for roughing the passer this season.
The reason stems from a change to the wording of the NFL rulebook this year. The rule for roughing the passer bars makes it a penalty to “unnecessarily or violently throw him down or land on top of him with all or most of the defender’s weight.” In the past it said “unnecessarily or violently throw him down and land on top of him.”
One of Barr’s teammates has been fined for violating that rule. Linebacker Antwione Williams was flagged for roughing Jaguars quarterback Cody Kessler in last week’s preseason game and he announced on Twitter in an incredulous tone that he was fined by the league.
Ian Rapoport of NFL Media confirmed that it is a $20,054 fine for putting his body weight on Kessler.
