More than one Eagle has been victim to a violent or borderline dirty hit this season, with DeShazor Everett's clobbering of Darren Sproles on an attempted fair catch Sunday the latest.
Back in Week 10, hard-hitting Falcons rookie safety Keanu Neal leveled Jordan Matthews so hard that he bent Matthews' helmet.
While Neal wasn't penalized for the play, he received a hefty fine of $24,309 for hitting a defenseless receiver. But after appealing, Neal's fine was cut in half, according to ESPN's Vaughn McClure.
Neal met on Nov. 29 with former Eagles receiver James Thrash, who is now the NFL's appeals officer for on-field player discipline.
"It was a close game and I wasn't attempting to hit him in the helmet," Neal said of what he discussed with Thrash.
"I was just playing ball. I was just trying to make the play. I was leading with my shoulder and everything. That's really all I said. [Thrash] was pretty chill about it.
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"My agent was telling me yesterday, and basically it's like $12,000-something now. That's really helpful. That's a good feeling, because it sucks getting fined like that. But to get some back is always a good thing.
Matthews, his lip bloodied, was upset about the hit after the game, a 24-15 Eagles win.
"How is that not called, you know?" Matthews asked. "It's something they definitely have to go back and look at, something they missed.
"It's crazy. It's one of those things ... I know it's been a point of emphasis, but when it comes to player safety, I think anything in the gray area should be called.
"There shouldn't be anything in the gray area that isn't called for the sake of the competitiveness of the game. Because now other refs are going to see that and then they might think twice before calling a penalty, like, ‘Oh, now we can be lenient, because he didn't call a penalty on that one. If it's a gray area, it should be called."
