Atlanta Falcons head coach Arthur Smith spoke with reporters on Friday after it was learned he was fined $25K and the club received a $75K fine regarding the controversy involving running back Bijan Robinson not being on the injury report ahead of Atlanta’s Week 7 win at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
“There’s an inquiry and usually you have to respond with a letter,” Smith explained, according to Michael Rothstein of ESPN. “It wasn’t like a court case, it wasn’t a lot of time spent. Here is how we interpreted it. Here was our intent. Nothing was done to try to game anything like that and I understood their point of view. So lesson learned there.”
Robinson recorded just one carry for three yards on 11 offensive snaps against the Buccaneers and then admitted after the victory he began “feeling weird” the previous night. He added he was dealing with headaches related to an illness during the Tampa Bay game, but he was never listed on the team’s official injury report.
Clubs are required to reveal such physical setbacks, even if they pop up less than 24 hours before the kickoff of a game.
“What I will give the league a lot of credit for is there are a lot of things, when you’re going through the injury report, and clearly we understood their point of view, but they also understood our point of view, too, which is why it wasn’t some contentious battle,” Smith said during his comments, as shared by the Falcons’ official website.
Smith and the Falcons have bigger things to worry about, as 6-8 Atlanta trails both the 7-8 New Orleans Saints and the 7-7 Buccaneers in the NFC South standings. As of Friday afternoon, the ESPN Football Power Index gave the Falcons a 13.3% chance to make the playoffs.
Atlanta plays at the 8-6 Indianapolis Colts this Sunday.
