Titans defensive end Derrick Morgan was flagged for unnecessary roughness on Sunday for jumping on Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco after Flacco had recovered a fumble. Now Morgan has been fined, but he’s telling the NFL that his hit on Flacco was a simple matter of the laws of physics, not an attempt to injure.
Morgan said that when he left the ground he was diving to try to recover the fumble, not to try to jump on Flacco.
“I saw the ball loose, so I am going toward the ball to get it. I couldn’t stop myself in the air,” Morgan said. “If I really wanted to take a dirty shot on him, I would’ve made it count. It wasn’t anything malicious. He’s not a quarterback when he is trying to get the ball.
Morgan said he plans to appeal the fine because he doesn’t think he did anything wrong -- something he said one Ravens offensive lineman agreed with him about.
“I don’t have a problem paying the fine if I feel like I am wrong,” Morgan said. “Even one of the offensive linemen looked at the replay and said, ‘That’s a tough call.’”
But it’s a call that the league office reviewed, and said was correct.