Jenna Laine, ESPN Staff Writer 6y

Mike Evans on hits: Game 'causes us to do things we normally wouldn't do'

TAMPA, Fla. -- Like plenty of NFL fans all across the country, Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans saw the litany of hits this past week that resulted in suspensions for several high-profile players.

“I’ve seen some of the hits. It’s a chippy sport,” Evans said. “It’s a high level of competition. It causes us to do things that we normally wouldn’t do.”

New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski was handed a one-game suspension for a late hit on Buffalo Bills wide receiver Tre’Davious White on which he leaped onto White, who was on the ground and out of bounds, and thrust his elbow/forearm into the back of White's head/neck area. White left the game with a concussion.

Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster was suspended a game after laying out Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict with a blindside peel-back block. As Burfict lay motionless on the field, Smith-Schuster stood over him, taunting him.

In the same game, Bengals safety George Iloka was flagged for a helmet-to-helmet hit on Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown after Brown caught a game-tying touchdown. Iloka was suspended for a game, too, but his was overturned on appeal.

There have been 10 suspensions handed down for on-field conduct this year.

Like Evans’ hit on New Orleans Saints cornerback Marshon Lattimore in Week 9, Gronkowski, Smith-Schuster and Iloka were not ejected from their games. However, Jacksonville Jaguars cornerback Jalen Ramsey and Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver A.J. Green were both ejected for fighting in Week 9, as were San Francisco 49ers running back Carlos Hyde and the Arizona Cardinals’ Haasan Reddick and Frostee Rucker.

Oakland Raiders wide receiver Michael Crabtree and Denver Broncos cornerback Aqib Talib’s brawl originally resulted in two-game suspensions, but the sanctions later were changed to one-game suspensions.

Ramsey and Green weren’t suspended, despite what became an all-out brawl. Hyde, Reddick and Rucker weren’t, either, but Evans was for launching his body into Lattimore’s back and knocking him to the ground. Gronkowski’s hit was slightly different than Evans’ because it involved the head and neck area and because White was laying face-down and out of bounds.

Did Evans think the punishment he got was fair and consistent with what other players have gotten this year?

“I don’t know. It depends on how you’re looking at it. If you’re a fan of the Patriots, should he have gotten suspended?” Evans said. “It depends. I know we’ve got to protect our players, and if we let that thing slide, then there [are] no repercussions. I don’t know. I think that’s the way the league is approaching it: If they don’t suspended guys, then guys will keep doing it and it wouldn’t be as safe.”

Head coach Dirk Koetter added: “I did see [the plays] and I’m glad I am not the one that is in charge of deciding.”

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