Bucs’ Bruce Arians Gets Slapped With Fine After Hitting Player

The NFL is putting its foot down after Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians was caught smacking one of his players on the back of his helmet during a Wild Card battle against the Philadelphia Eagles.

Arians will be ordered to pay a $50,000 fine for hitting Bucs safety Andrew Adams.

According to ESPN's Jenna Laine, the discipline was handed down after further review of the scene cited Arians' conduct as "below standards expected of an NFL head coach."

Despite appearing frustrated on tape, Arians clarified that he was keeping Adams from getting involved in a heap of players attempting to recover a muffed punt by Eagles wide receiver / punt returner Jalen Reagor.

Arians wanted to assure that Adams would not get penalized among the scrapping players as they were peeled off the mound by game officials.

As relayed by OutKick's Nick Geddes, Arians said the following regarding his reaction to Adams:

"No, and I've seen enough dumb – you can't pull guys out of a pile," Arians said. "We just got a big play, great field position, and he's trying to pull a guy out of a pile, and I was trying to knock him off of that guy, so he didn't get a penalty."

With his earnest intention in mind, Arians expressed no qualm with petitioning against the League's decision.

"I'll appeal it," Arians added. "It ain't got nothing to do with the game, so we're good."

Whether Bruce Arians is too old school in his methods or not, no beating could equate to the Buccaneers' 31-15 stomping of the Eagles in the Wild Card round.

The Bucs face off against the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday in the NFC Divisional Round. Tampa Bay (-3) holds the advantage over Los Angeles, per FanDuel Sportsbook. Join today and win big on your first bet, RISK-FREE.

Follow along on Twitter: @AlejandroAveela