CHARLOTTE -- The Panthers will have to make do without cornerback Dante Wesley against the Buffalo Bills.
The NFL announced late Monday afternoon that Wesley would be suspended without pay for one game for his second-quarter hit on Tampa Bay punt returner Clifton Smith during Sunday's 28-21 win. Wesley was called for a personal foul for the hit and was ejected from the game.
"The playing rules (Rule 10, Section 1, Article 1) specifically provide that a member of the kicking team is prohibited from interfering with a receiver attempting to catch an airborne kick," wrote NFL executive vice president of football operations Ray Anderson in a letter to Wesley that was excerpted in a league press release. "The prohibited contact in this case went well beyond simply interfering with the receiver. Instead, by striking your defenseless opponent in the head and neck area, you committed an unnecessary and unnecessarily dangerous act that is specifically prohibited by the rules."
At a press conference Monday, Panthers head coach John Fox described Wesley's hit as a "judgment error."
"These guys play the game; they play it at a high level; it's fast. Whether it's a pass-interference penalty, a late hit on the quarterback, a late hit out of bounds, it's part of football," Fox said.
"I hate to see it. I hated to see it for their guy and our guy. But sometimes it happens. It's not intentional; it's not done maliciously. You've got to make a split-second decision. It's no different than driving to work and putting your brakes on. Sometimes accidents happen."
Wesley said after the game that there was no intent to injure Smith, who suffered a concussion and did not return, although he did walk to the Tampa Bay locker room under his own power.
"I was just trying to make a play," Wesley said Sunday. "I would never try to hurt anybody or do anything like that."
"I know the kid (Wesley), I know the kid's character and I know he would never do anything intentionally like that," Fox said. "It's unfortunate that it happened, and I'm sure he'll learn from it."
Without Wesley, who serves as "gunner" on punt coverage and is a key member of the kickoff-coverage team, the Panthers conceded their first kickoff-return touchdown in 11 years when Tampa Bay's Sammie Stroughter sprinted 97 yards for a score late in the third quarter.
"We had a couple of substitutions that occurred when we lost Dante (Wesley) and we had another guy (
It also appeared the Buccaneers had a three-man wedge in front of Stroughter on the play, Fox said. Such formations were outlawed by the league this year.
"It didn't get called. That's on our list to send to the league," Fox said. "You can go with (a) two(-man wedge); it just can't be more than two.
"I happened to notice it right away and I noticed it again when I watched it this morning."
