Jeff Fisher's Rams committed an age-old football sin on Sunday against the Detroit Lions by crashing the team's victory formation and disrupting a kneel down.
Fisher just wants everyone to know that it wasn't his idea.
"This approach did not come from the sideline," Fisher said Monday, via ESPN.com. "It was not a call. It was not something that we practiced, or that we preach. I think it was a byproduct of frustration, some things that Aaron endured during the game, and the players took it on themselves to do it. We'll address it."
Fisher is not subtle in his reasoning here and doesn't exactly apologize (though he was reportedly more remorseful toward Lions coach Jim Caldwell). While reporters did not block for Todd Gurley during live action Sunday, they are more than capable of calling up all of the snaps to see whether or not defensive tackle Aaron Donald endured some less than savory treatment as well. Rough play in the pile has been a staple of the NFL for decades, but crashing the victory formation has long been out of style.
"The game's over, the game's over -- pay respect to your opponent," Fisher said. "... We'll address it, and it's unlikely it'll happen again."
Fisher is lucky that nothing happened to Lions center Travis Swanson, who needed an X-ray on his hand following the play on his hand (The Detroit Free Press later tweeted that he was fine). Quarterback Matthew Stafford was also caught up in the momentary fracas.
The action, last seen by NFL coaching pariah Greg Schiano in Tampa Bay, will not do anything to remove the 'dirty' tag that has been placed on Fisher's Rams teams in recent years, though its unlikely that he cares. A quick Google search turns up more than a few teams suggesting that Los Angeles' actions have been below the belt (you might also remember this).
In Fisher's defense, reputations often end up taking on a life of their own. One player says something and perception becomes reality before a team can get a handle on the problem. Sunday's actions certainly won't help matters, though.
