On Sunday Jets safety Eric Smith was flagged for unnecessary roughness for a hit on Patriots receiver Wes Welker, and afterward Patriots coach Bill Belichick yelled at the officials on the sideline, appearing to ask why Smith hadn’t been ejected.
After the game, Belichick suggested that he thought the NFL should consider suspending Smith.
“I don’t think that’s really what the league is looking for with those kind of plays,” Belichick said. “I can’t imagine that they are. We’ll see what they want to do about it.”
Welker, however, was asked if he thinks Smith should be fined or suspended and answered, “No, not at all.”
“Eric came up to me during and after the game and apologized. He was just trying to make a physical football play. That’s what it came down to,” Welker said. “I don’t have any ill feelings about that play or anything else. There’s nothing I’m too worried about with him.”
Smith was suspended two years ago for a hit on Anquan Boldin, a suspension that Smith recently labeled “stupid.” We presume that he would view Belichick’s suggestion that another suspension is warranted as equally stupid. We’ll find out this week what kind of discipline the league office thinks is appropriate.