Houston Texans defensive end Antonio Smith made news Sunday when he accused Miami Dolphins guard Richie Incognito of trying to break his ankle.
Incognito responded that he's not dirty anymore. We have some video that could at least suggest otherwise.
The play in question occurred after a Daniel Thomas fumble at the end of the second quarter. Smith is No. 94 and lines up across from Incognito (No. 68), who plays left guard. Thomas fumbles the ball, Smith starts to go after it and Incognito grabs him by the ankle. We'll let the video do the talking from here.
The SB Nation Texans site "Battle Red" blog broke down the Incognito play frame by frame, like Abraham Zapruder's film of the John F. Kennedy assassination. They write that Incognito "violently" ripped Smith's ankle back and forth, trying to cause injury. We're not sure it's that clear, but we can see why Smith was so upset. Incognito stayed on that ankle way past the play's end.
We also watched the play on NFL Game Rewind using Coaches Film. The camera stayed on Smith and Incognito a beat longer than the television copy. Incognito still hadn't let go of the ankle.
Let us know what you think. The NFL will let us know what it thinks later in the week when fines are doled out.
UPDATE: Incognito told ProFootballTalk.com later Wednesday that he was trying to protect himself from Smith's kicks.
"I have seen the video," Incognito said. "Once the ball was fumbled, I grabbed his legs to stop him from recovering the fumble. It's clear that I wrap my arms around both his legs. I was trying to keep him from scrambling to the ball.
"After the ball was recovered, I felt him kicking me. I was trying to protect myself. Kind of like a turtle in a shell. At no time was I turning his ankle. My intent was to keep him from getting to the ball."
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