Bills lineman fined $53,482 for confrontation with ref

Buffalo defensive end Jerry Hughes was fined $53,482 by the NFL on Saturday for confronting an official in the tunnel after the Bills-Dolphins game last weekend. Hughes accused the official of calling him a vulgar name.

“You called me a bitch. I’ll catch you. I’ll catch you, guaranteed,” Hughes shouted, waving his index finger, as he was pulled away by Bills officials.

Hughes later refused to elaborate on the reason for his anger, saying, “I lost the game, so I am supposed to be angry.”

Hughes declined to take about the incident this week, and Bills coach Sean McDermott said the situation was in the hands of the league, according to the Buffalo News.

On Wednesday, Scott Green, the NFL Referees Association executive director, expected the league to absolve the referee involved,

“We fully expect the NFL’s review to clear Roy Ellison. Video from last week’s game shows he was verbally threatened by a player who has a well-documented history of abusive language and inappropriate actions towards our officials,” Ellison said in a statement.

Hughes, a nine-year NFL veteran who had one tackle in the game, then went silent after the game when addressing the face-off with the refs.

“I don’t recall that,” he told reporters, seemingly denying the altercation happened at all.

He was asked why he was angry.

“Who was angry? I was angry?” he answered.

The league also fined Tennessee left tackle Taylor Lewan $26,739 for yelling at referee Jerome Boger and his crew after the Jets-Titans game.  — With AP