Coach Pat Shurmur said it’s not worth getting fined in the preseason for openly questioning a call, but he clearly disagreed with the penalty assessed to linebacker Mark Herzlich on Friday night for lowering his head to initiate contact (i.e. the new helmet rule).
“I have a very strong opinion of that play,” Shurmur said on Saturday. “We’re going to send that play in to get evaluated and we’ll see what they say.”
On the play it appeared as if Lions running back Theo Reddick initiated the contact with Herzlich’s helmet as the linebacker blitzed. There was definitely contact, but it seemed as if the wrong team was penalized.