After yet another hit on a defenseless receiver, Damontae Kazee was suspended for the rest of the regular season.
On a second down and 8 in the second quarter Dec. 16, Gardner Minshew dropped back to throw and was looking for Michael Pittman on the left side.
The throw was out of Pittman’s reach, and he dove to make a catch.
Before he could land safely, the Pittsburgh Steelers defensive back laid Pittman out with a big hit.
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Players from the Pittsburgh Steelers and Indianapolis Colts take a knee while Michael Pittman Jr. of the Indianapolis Colts is on the field with an injury at Lucas Oil Stadium Dec. 16, 2023, in Indianapolis. (Justin Casterline/Getty Images)
Pittman lay on the turf for several minutes before walking off on his own, but the hit was enough to give him a concussion. He has since cleared protocol but is questionable this weekend with a shoulder injury.
The Indianapolis Colts wide receiver discussed Kazee’s hit Friday, a tackle he says he doesn’t remember.
“I honestly never saw him coming. I was diving, I caught it, and then, all of a sudden, I woke up and there’s people looking down at me. I was like, ‘Oh, s—, what just happened?” he recalled, via ESPN.
Pittman said he didn’t realize the impact and scary nature of the hit until he saw his wife and daughter crying.
Michael Pittman Jr. of the Indianapolis Colts walks off the field with an injury in a game against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Lucas Oil Stadium Dec. 16, 2023, in Indianapolis. (Justin Casterline/Getty Images)
“I really didn’t grasp how significant it was until I watched it,” he said. “I remember sitting in my locker, and then my wife came in crying, my daughter was crying. And that’s the first time that I was like, ‘Maybe this was bad.'”
Pittman added that Kazee was “headhunting” and it was “not a clean hit.”
“But I don’t think he meant to try to impose a life-changing injury. I don’t think any player has that in them. And you never want to see guys lose games and lose that much money. … He has a family, too, and I know that’s a hefty fine,” Pittman said.
Kazee was fined close to $12,000 earlier this month for a hit on the Cincinnati Bengals’ Irv Smith. It was his fifth fine of the season, his fourth for a tackle.
Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr., left, collides with Pittsburgh Steelers safety Damontae Kazee Dec. 16, 2023, during a game at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. (Robert Scheer/IndyStar/USA Today Network)
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In Week 7, Kazee was fined $11,806 for “impermissible use of the helmet,” an infraction he committed again the following week. Another fine was issued that week because of a hit to a defenseless receiver, according to Spotrac.
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