Myles Garrett avoids ejection despite shot to Delanie Walker’s facemask

[Chomps]

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Browns defensive end Myles Garrett easily could have been ejected, but instead got away with just a 15-yard penalty, for a shot he took at Titans tight end Delanie Walker.

After a play, Garrett drew back his hand and threw it hard into Walker’s facemask. Walker wisely responded by holding up his hands to show he wasn’t going to participate in a fight, and the officials flagged Garrett.

But they did not eject Garrett. Former NFL referee Gene Steratore, working the game on CBS, said he agreed with the decision not to eject Garrett because it was an open hand, not a fist, that Garrett used to hit Walker’s facemask.

That, however, was as much about sparing his own hand from injury as about taking it easy on Walker. This was a cheap shot, and Garrett is lucky he wasn’t thrown out of the game.