Veteran Bills DE fined by NFL for Week 4 kneeing incident vs. Ravens

The NFL has fined Buffalo Bills defensive end Dawuane Smoot for kneeing Baltimore Ravens fullback Patrick Ricard in Week 4.

Shawn Dowd/Rochester Democrat and Chronicle / USA TODAY NETWORK

The NFL has fined Buffalo Bills defensive end Dawuane Smoot $8,156 for kneeing Baltimore Ravens fullback Patrick Ricard in the head during their Week 4 matchup, per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero. 

The NFL fined #Bills DE Dawuane Smoot $8,156 for unnecessary roughness — kneeing #Ravens FB Pat Ricard in the chin after a play last week. pic.twitter.com/vO8KQ5Y1iM

— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) October 5, 2024

The incident happened in the closing moments of the first quarter after a Derrick Henry rush. Smoot and Ricard went to the ground with each other during the play, with Smoot being the first to his feet; he kneed the fullback in the helmet as he walked by. A referee spotted the action and hit Smoot with a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty; the Ravens found the endzone four plays later to give them a 14-3 lead.

It was an out-of-character play for Smoot, who has only taken 12 defensive penalties throughout his now eight-year professional career. He inked a one-year deal with the Bills in the offseason after spending his first seven seasons with the Jacksonville Jaguars, recording 23.5 sacks throughout his time in Duval County; he’s played on 47 defensive snaps for Buffalo in two games thus far this season, recording four tackles.

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