Texans inside linebacker Tim Dobbins was fined $30,000 by the NFL on Wednesday for a hit on Bears quarterback Jay Cutler in Week 10. He said he will appeal the fine.
Dobbins said his reaction to seeing the fine amount in a letter from the league was "very shocked."
"It was a lot of zeroes in that picture," he said. "My assessment is (the fine) is way too high, and I feel like I didn't do anything wrong. I'm not a dirty player. I really can't do nothing but appeal it at this point."
Dobbins knocked Cutler on his back with a jarring hit late in the second quarter on Sunday night at Soldier Field. Cutler scrambled forward, then threw the ball after he had already passed the line of scrimmage. Dobbins hit him immediately afterward. He was flagged for unnecessary roughness, a penalty that was offset by Cutler's illegal forward pass. Cutler played the next three snaps but was ruled out of the game at halftime with a concussion.
"I'm definitely disappointed (in the fine)," Dobbins said. "I didn't know if he was going to run the ball or if he was gonna pass the ball. I felt like he was past the line. I just went and tried to get a clean hit on him and it just didn't work out, I guess.
"I looked at the film and it looked like I get a little helmet-to-helmet, but I definitely didn't try, though. "
By comparison, Jets guard Matt Slauson was fined $10,000 for a low hit earlier this season that knocked Brian Cushing out for the season with a knee injury. Denver Broncos linebacker Joe Mays was fined $50,000 and suspended one game for a vicious helmet-to-helmet collision that knocked Matt Schaub out of a game for one play. Broncos linebacker Von Miller was fined $15,750 for an illegal hit on Schaub in the same game.
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