NFL fines Saints DT Nathan Shepherd for dirty play on Justin Herbert

The NFL has fined New Orleans Saints defensive lineman Nathan Shepherd $11,817 for his hit on Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert during the game last Sunday. Bradley Bozeman was not fined for defending his QB, according to Tom Pelissero.

Shepherd grabbed Herbert’s ankle and rolled him to the ground after Herbert threw the ball. It led to Chargers center Bradley Bozeman going after Shepherd, and Herbert and officials had to pull Bozeman off of Shepherd before both players were penalized.

Dirty hit by Nathan Shepard on Justin Herbert.

Perfect response by Bradley Bozeman. pic.twitter.com/so308DodU1

— Doug Rush (@TheDougRush) October 27, 2024

“It was probably one of the dirtier plays I’ve ever seen, especially with my own eyes. The ball was gone two or three seconds and he’s still gator rolling, he’s on the ground, still gator rolling,” Bozeman said after the game, per Pro Football Talk. “Protect your quarterback no matter what. I think any offensive lineman in my position would’ve done the exact same thing. I had to get him off him.”

On Monday, Saints head coach Dennis Allen said he doesn’t think Shepherd did anything wrong on the play. “I think it’s not accurate,” Allen said. “Here’s a guy that’s trying to wrap the quarterback up. He’s on the ground, he has no idea whether the quarterback has the ball or not. He’s just trying to bring the quarterback down to the ground, so there was nothing malicious about that play. It’s a guy that’s trying to make the play. I went back and looked at that play again after seeing the comments and I don’t agree with that.”

Justin Herbert speaks out on incident with Nathan Shepherd

Justin Herbert and Bradley Bozeman got the last laugh as they helped the Chargers earn a 26-8 victory over the Saints. Herbert threw for 279 yards and two touchdowns in the win. Nathan Shepherd had one tackle in the loss.

“That’s the type of center you want on your team,” Herbert said on Sunday when asked about Bozeman defending him, per ESPN. “He’ll give everything for this team, and I appreciated what he did. I tried to pull him off so he didn’t get any penalties called, but to have a guy like that defending you, there’s no better feeling.”