Giants' Justin Pugh on Neville Gallimore's ejection: 'Don't kick somebody'

The Dallas Cowboys‘ takedown of the New York Giants was going off without a hitch on Sunday night. That is until the Cowboys had one of their defenders ejected in the fourth quarter. Defensive tackle Neville Gallimore took a shove from Giants offensive tackle Justin Pugh after a hit on QB Tommy DeVito and since he was on the ground, the former Sooner did the only thing there was to do, which apparently was kick Pugh in the crotch from the ground.

Gallimore is now undoubtedly facing a fine from the league. His ejection was just the ninth of the season and came with less than 50 seconds remaining in the 49-17 victory for Dallas.

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Most of the league’s ejections this season have been on defenders for rough contact on a defenseless receiver. The only example of an ejection for a non-defender was Cardinals LT D.J. Humphries’ Week 7 ejection for contact with an official.

After the game, Pugh responded to questions about the attack to his private area. The former Syracuse standout told reporters that he wished the incident wouldn’t cost Gallimore money, but that’s the NFL.

“Look, he hit the quarterback late, I took exception to it, I hit him, I shouldn’t have done that when he was on the ground, pushed him and he kicked me,” Pugh said, via Andrew Crane of the New York Post. “I’ve gotten in so many fights in my career, I’m not gonna cost myself money. He’s gonna get a FedEx so I feel bad for him on that. I don’t want a guy to lose money. But you don’t kick somebody on a football field.”

Gallimore likely to receive fine from NFL

Gallimore, now in his fourth year in the league, is well aware of the repercussions of his actions. That being said, the defensive tackle is heading for a nice payday at the end of the season that will easily make up for the loss. He initially signed with Dallas on a four-year rookie deal for $4.68 million, which runs out in March.

On Sunday, Gallimore had his first sack of the 2023 season. He’s now up to eight tackles with one sack and 2.5 tackles for loss. The Cowboys drafted him with the No. 82 overall pick in the third round of the 2020 draft after a successful career at Oklahoma. Last season, playing in 16 games, he tallied 33 tackles with a sack and two tackles for loss as Dallas went 12-5.