Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians was fined $50,000 after making contact with Tampa Bay safety Andrew Adams during the team’s win over the Eagles, according to NFL’s Ian Rapoport Network. The Arians slapped Adams’ helmet in Tampa Bay’s 31-15 win on Sunday.
Arians defended his actions on Monday, saying he was trying to stop Adams from committing a penalty. The Arians apparently thought Adams was going to try to pull the Eagles players off the pile following a missed punt off Philadelphia’s Jalen Reagor.
“I’ve seen enough stupid people,” Arians said, via the Tampa Bay Weather. “You can’t take guys out of the pile. We just had a big play, great court position and he’s trying to take a guy out of the pile and I was trying to knock that guy down for that he did not have a penalty.”
Arians recently made headlines for his decision to release Antonio Brown in the Buccaneers’ season-ending win over the New York Jets. Brown, stating his ankle injury, said he was too injured to enter the game, which led to his release. Arians said Brown alluded to his lack of involvement in the offense as his reasoning for not returning to the game, which led Arians to ask Brown to leave the sideline.
Distractions aside, the Arians and Buccaneers are three wins away from becoming the ninth team in NFL history to win back-to-back Super Bowls and the first since the 2003-04 Patriots. The Bucs will host the Rams this weekend in the NFL Divisional Round.