Chargers offensive lineman Johnnie Troutman picked up a personal foul penalty on Sunday against the Bengals, and he says the result is he learned a valuable lesson: When one player takes a cheap shot and another player reacts, the officials are going to throw the flag on the guy who reacted.
That’s what Troutman says happened on Sunday, when Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict started it, but Troutman got flagged for pushing Burfict.
“Usually the second guy gets caught,” Troutman said, via Michael Gehlken of U-T San Diego. “I was the second guy, so I got caught.”
Chargers coach Mike McCoy says it doesn’t matter if Burfict started it. Troutman needs to be composed enough not to react.
“You have to be poised under pressure,” McCoy said. “It’s something that whether you get baited or not, it’s unacceptable. That’s what I told him instantly after the play happened. I’m sure you all saw that. After the game, talking to the team, it’s something we can’t accept. You don’t want any unsportsmanlike conducts. . . . That’s kind of certain players’ jobs to bait you into certain penalties. You have to stay away from it. It really hurt our football team.”
And Burfict, who has been known to pick up personal fouls of his own, helped the Bengals by getting a rise out of Troutman.