Through 65 preseason games and 17 regular-season games, the NFL’s players had not violated the rule prohibiting use of the crown of the helmet by offensive or defensive players.
None of those games had featured Redskins safety Brandon Meriweather.
In his first appearance of the season (he played in only one game last year), Meriweather put the crown of his helmet into the helmet of Packers running back Eddie Lacy, giving him an possible concussion. (Pam Oliver of FOX reports it’s a concussion.)
No flag was thrown. The league says the play will be reviewed.
The league also will review a hit applied by Titans running back Jackie Battle, who dropped his helmet into a Houston defender. Battle’s hit appeared to involve as much of the front of the helmet as the top of the helmet. No flag was thrown there, either.
For both plays, the question could be whether the contact occurred inside the tackle box, whether the tactic remains legal.