NFL Won’t Suspend Chris Baker For Hit on Foles

The NFL has looked at the tape, and have decided not to suspend or fine Washington Redskin' Chris Baker, for his hit on Eagles quarterback Nick Foles last Sunday.

“Baker didn’t do anything wrong with that hit,” said Troy Vincent, the NFL’s executive vice president of football operations. “When you look at the rule, he didn’t do anything illegal. People can say it’s a cheap shot and you can talk about whether it might fall under unsportsmanlike conduct. But when you know the rule and you look at the play, he didn’t hit him in the head. He didn’t hit him in the neck. We looked at it. I looked at it very closely. He’s not going to be fined for that.”

After the hit, Eagles offensive tackle Jason Peters, came to the defense of Foles, and a fight between both teams broke out. Vincent did not rule out the possibility of dishing out fines, to those that were involved in the fight. “The fight part of it, that’s easy,” Vincent said, “Those are non-debatable. You can look at it and tell for yourself. Those are just fines [rather than suspensions].”

According to the NFL rules, a quarterback is considered a defenseless player after throwing an interception and cannot be hit in the neck or head area, no matter the players posture. After reviewing the hit, the NFL determined that though Baker blindsided Foles, the hit was clean, as he never made contact with the head, or neck area.

Baker and Jason Peters were ejected from the game. Baker will remain eligible to play in the Redskins’ game Thursday night against the New York Giants at FedEx Field, as will Peters as the Eagles head to Levi Stadium on Sunday, to take on the San Francisco 49ers.