Dolphins wide receiver Jarvis Landry apologized for launching himself into Bills safety Aaron Williams’ head for a hit that sent Williams to the hospital during last Sunday’s game and led many with the Bills to call Landry’s play dirty.
Landry was penalized for the hit and also picked up a taunting penalty during the game, both of which are likely to draw fines from the league this week as well. Landry also drew a big fine for verbal abuse of an official last season and has drawn other personal fouls for on-field conduct this year.
Dolphins coach Adam Gase lamented the taunting call on Monday and said Landry needs to lower “his target zone” on plays like the one that injured Williams. He also defended Landry against accusations that he’s a dirty player and said he doesn’t want Landry to alter his approach to the game.
“I’m not going to change the way he plays,” Gase said, via the Miami Herald. “The taunting penalty, that’s not what I want. ... We need to be smarter because we’re losing yards, but I want him to keep bringing his intensity every week. ... I know the way Jarvis plays, it’s going to be aggressive, it’s going to be intense. For anybody to kind of start thinking, ‘dirty play,’ and things like that, I’ve been around the guys for less than a year. I haven’t seen that from him. I’ve see a guy who when we coach him up on things, tries to do things the right way.”
The penalty for the hit on Williams cost the Dolphins 15 yards when they were closing in on the end zone and the team had to settle for a field goal. Those missing points helped put Miami in a position where they had to come back in the second half to get a win and the reaction to Landry’s penalty might have been different had the Dolphins failed to pull it off.