Bears long snapper Patrick Mannelly is currently sidelined with a rib injury, and the NFL says Panthers safety Colin Jones is to blame for an illegal blindside block. Mannelly, however, blames himself.
Mannelly told the Chicago Sun-Times he saw no problem with the hit, and that the only issue he has with the play was that he needed to keep his head on a swivel so that he would see Jones coming.
“It was poor field awareness on my part,” Mannelly said.
Jones was fined $21,000 for the hit, and the league office has made a point of protecting players running down the field covering kicks from hits that they don’t see coming. Even if Mannelly thinks protecting himself from such hits is his own responsibility.