Report: Falcons safeties Rircado Allen and Keanu Neal fined for Week 1 hits

Falcons safety Ricardo Allen has a knack for getting fined by the NFL. The latest one comes from this past week’s game when Allen was fined for lowering his helmet for a hit on Vikings receiver Stefon Diggs during Sunday’s Week 1 loss in Minnesota.

According to ESPN’s Vaughn McClure, Allen says he intends to appeal the fine.

Should be more clarity on fines today. Falcons FS Ricardo Allen already told me he plans to appeal his fine for lowering the helmet vs. Stefon Diggs last Sunday. Standard fine for is $28,075. We’ll see if Harrison Smith gets fined for hit on Russell Gage (concussion protocol).

— vaughn mcclure (@vxmcclure23) September 14, 2019

Allen missed all but three games of the 2018 season due to an Achilles injury and the Atlanta defense definitely missed him. Allen and the rest of a  mostly-healthy unit will square off against the Eagles Sunday night.

UPDATE: Safety Keanu Neal and Allen were each charged $28,075 for illegal hits against the Vikings, per ESPN’s Vaughn McClure.

Both Falcons safeties, Keanu Neal and Ricardo Allen, were fined $28,075 for unnecessary roughness after being whistled for lowering the helmet last week vs. Vikings. Neal already appealing fine for hitting Redskins TE Jordan Reed in preseason.

— vaughn mcclure (@vxmcclure23) September 14, 2019

As predicted by Vaughn earlier, Allen is already appealing the fine.

Meanwhile, Vikings safety Harrison Smith reportedly won’t be fined for his hit that knocked out Falcons wide receiver Russell Gage.

Gage is currently listed as questionable for Atlanta’s Sunday’s matchup with Philadelphia.