Dolphins guard Richie Incognito didn’t do his name justice on Tuesday, a day after video surfaced of Texans defensive end Antonio Smith whacking Incognito with his own helmet.
“Football’s an intense game, it’s played with a lot of passion, blood runs hot, I’ve been there, I’m no choir boy,” Incognito told reporters. “People lost their cool, just thank God no one got hurt.”
(By “no one,” Incognito necessarily means “me.”)
It’s an understatement to say Smith lost his cool. He forcibly removed Incognito’s helmet and used it as a weapon, swinging it toward Incognito’s face. Incognito was mum regarding the specifics of the incident.
“You know I’m not really going to touch on anything like that, I’m moving past it and just moving on to the Tampa Bay game,” Incognito said regarding whether the helmet hit him in the face. (A league source tells PFT that the Texans insist the helmet didn’t hit Incognito in the face.)
Review of the video suggests that Incognito was indeed struck in the head/face area by the helmet. The fact that he remained standing suggests that it was, at most, a glancing blow.
Regardless, Incognito is done talking about it.
“I’ve made my statement on that, I’m moving on from the Houston game, we’ve got Tampa coming in and I’m focused on the home opener,” Incognito said.
Of course, with the league office suspending Smith for one regular-season game, there’s really nothing for Incognito to add. Despite Incognito’s reputation for rough-and-tumble play, Smith crossed the line -- and Smith is paying for it.