Brandon Meriweather served his one-game suspension while many players believed he should be out for the league entirely. Now back on the field, the Washington Redskins safety is vowing to start taking out knees instead of aiming at player's heads. After being a man of his word, Redskins head coach Mike Shanahan is praising his controversial player.
In his first game back against the San Diego Chargers, Meriweather was not served one penalty throughout the duration of the game. He avoided all temptation, pleasing his coach in the process.
"A lot of times when a guy comes back after being fined, he's a little tentative when he hits," Shanahan said, via the Washington Post. "[Meriweather] brought it. He brought it both in the running game and the passing game and made some great open-field tackles, and he was ready to play. Really proud of him, the way he handled himself. He had one of his better games that I've seen him play -- very physical, was really on-point in the passing game as well."
Meriweather accounted for six tackles including four solo. While he was not flagged throughout the game, running back Ryan Mathews appeared to disagree with one of his moves, looking towards the ref for a penalty that never came. The safety said he players with the same physical nature that he always does despite not making any headlines after the game.
"I think I played the same," Meriweather said. "I still was aggressive. I aimed a little lower. I celebrated with my team. We got the win...To be honest, I didn't even think about it. I just went and just let what happens happen. I'm not trying to think about it and say, 'I'm gonna aim lower. I'm gonna aim higher. I'm gonna do whatever.' I'm gonna just play and whatever happens happens."
Meriweather served the suspension after receiving multiple penalties for helmet-to-helmet hits against the Chicago Bears. He claimed the rules are constantly changing and he was no longer clear on what the rules were. Then he said he was simply have to start taking out the knees of players and ending careers that way. The NFL brought down no kind of punishment for the comments.
Time will tell just how long Meriweather avoids the temptation to hit above the shoulders. The one game was a positive step in the right direction.
