Chargers center Bradley Bozeman got flagged for unnecessary roughness during Sunday’s 26-8 victory over the Saints for an incident in which he was just trying to protect his quarterback.
Justin Herbert got a low hit from Saints defensive tackle Nathan Shepherd, who held on to Herbert’s leg and turned him down awkwardly.
As Shepherd was pulling down on Herbert by his leg while on the ground, Bozeman leaped into him on the ground and piled on Shepherd.
“It was probably one of the dirtier plays I’ve ever seen,” Bozeman said about the incident, “especially with my own eyes. I think the ball’s gone two, three seconds, and he’s still gator-rolling. He’s on the ground; he’s still gator-rolling. You protect your quarterback. You protect your quarterback no matter what. I think any of our offensive linemen who were in that position would have done the exact, same thing. I had to get him off of him, and I did.”
Shepherd was also given an unnecessary roughness penalty, which offset and negated a 10-yard play. But Herbert responded with a 15-yard pass en route to a 15-play, 90-yard touchdown drive.
“I appreciated what he did,” Herbert said. “I tried to pull him off so we wouldn’t have any penalties called, but to have a guy like that defending you, there’s no better feeling.”
