The NFL has examined an incident between Tom Brady and Grady Jarrett to see if the Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback kicks out at the Atlanta Falcons defensive tackle, and he could be fined.
The Buccaneers suffered a late scare during their clash with the Falcons, as they saw their 21-point lead reduced to just six in the final quarter. They held on to win to get back to winning ways, but Brady looked frustrated as he was sacked by Jarrett during the match.
The pair fell to the floor, and a flag was thrown for roughing the passer. But it appeared that Brady kicked out on his way up, and he could be fined as a result.
There was outrage among Falcons fans and even the wider NFL picture, as a flag was thrown for a sack on Brady, when it looked relatively clean. But after Jarrett's hit on the Buccaneers quarterback, it looked as though Brady kicked out.
Although contact wasn't made, The Associated Press has claimed that the NFL will now into the matter and will soon determine whether to fine Brady. Fines for kicking are $10,500 (£9400) for a first offense and $15,500 (£13,800) for a second in the NFL.
Jarrett has already picked up a fine himself, as roughing the passer is billed at $15,000 (£13,400) for first offense and $20,000 £17,850 for second. But it's outraged Jarrett and the Falcons, as not only did they feel like it was the wrong call, it could have cost them an unlikely victory.
The Falcons defensive end addressed the matter on The Grady Jarrett Show, and said: "I'm not saying that it cost us the game, but it cost us an opportunity to go win the game. If it's costing people games, it's going to cost people's livelihood's, it's costing people opportunity.
"You never know who will go down and make a crazy play. When people watch it to be entertained, they love to see some game winning drives and then when you do it the right way, that's what makes it so frustrating because you did follow the rules. And you didn't do anything bad, so let's get the game what the game is owed, and that's the best product we can put on the field.
"That's the thing that really drives you just a little crazy. In full speed, it may look more malicious than it really is because the refs are human as well, so let's just take a little bit off the plate and be able to review something like that just for the defensive sake so we can get something."
But Brady felt otherwise, as he labelled it as 'unwelcome' on the Let's Go! Podcast. "It was a long hug, a long unwelcome hug from Grady," Brady said. "And he was in the backfield all day. So as I said after the games, I don't throw flags. What I do throw is tablets, and I didn't have one accessible at that time. He had a hell of a game. I'll leave it at that."
Players learn of any fines on Friday, so decision of Brady's actions will soon be known to the public. It doesn't look as though Jarrett is going to escape his fine being overturned though.
