Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict’s repeated dirty play got him suspended for the first three games of this season, but he does not appear to have learned his lesson.
Burfict took a brutal cheap shot at the knee of Patriots tight end Martellus Bennett during Sunday’s game, a hit that will surely draw a fine and could draw a suspension.
Bennett was running a pass route and Burfict dropped into coverage on the play. After the ball was thrown, with Bennett’s back turned, Burfict drilled him in the left knee. Burfict wasn’t attempting to block or tackle or otherwise make a legitimate football play; he was clearly just trying to take a cheap shot at Bennett.
Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski later picked up a 15-yard penalty for getting in Burfict’s face, which Bennett seemed to appreciate after the game.
“That’s who we are. We always have each other’s backs,” Bennett said. “Things happen in the game. It was one of those things, it usually doesn’t happen that way, but Gronk’s like, ‘Bro, I got you.’ I mean, he hit me in the back of my knee. That’s low,”
It was low, and it ought to draw further league discipline.