The National Football League served Houston Texans linebacker Tim Dobbins a $30,000 fine Wednesday for a vicious helmet-to-helmet hit that gave Bears quarterback Jay Cutler a concussion .
The brutal hit, which occurred late in the second quarter of Sunday’s 13-6 Houston victory over the Bears at Soldier Field, came as Cutler was scrambling to make a pass on a 3rd-and-long.
On the play, Cutler was past the line of scrimmage and called for an illegal forward pass, and Dobbins was flagged for unnecessary roughness. Cutler left the game briefly after the hit, returned for several more snaps before the half, and didn’t return to the field after the break.
Dobbins, who plans to appeal the fine, initially told reporters Cutler “ran into” him on the play.
“I did not hit him in his head, and actually he ran into me,” he said.
“I’m definitely disappointed. I didn’t know if he was going to run the ball or if he was going to 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 got a little helmet-to-helmet, but I definitely didn’t try, though.”
As for Cutler, there’s still no definitive word on whether he will be active for Chicago’s Monday night game against the San Francisco 49ers.
“We’re still evaluating him, he’s meeting with people, medical staff, our trainers and all of that, but he’s getting better,” Bears coach Lovie Smith said Wednesday. “We do have a little bit more time and that’s always good.”
Watch Tim Dobbins’ hit on Jay Cutler in the video below:
